Hallowed Anniversary
by SplendentGoddess
Summary: It's been a year since they decided to live for the moment, and embrace an uncertain future with open arms. How have they fared since that fateful Halloween night, and what does Kagome have planned for their anniversary? Sequel to All Hallow's Eve.
1. To Live While I'm Alive

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

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Nominated for Best Inu/Kag Romance for the 2008 4th Quarter at the Feudal Association!

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Hello again! While this is _part two _of my 'Hallow' trilogy, and I strongly recommend reading the previous installment first, please note that this story is not a _direct sequel _from where 'All Hallow's Eve' left off. It originally took me three years to complete the Hallow trilogy, because coming up on my second Halloween after writing my first Halloween fic, I had decided to stick with the same universe I had created, thinking it would be fun if I revisited them one true year later, just like how it was in real life, as Halloween – and their anniversary – rolled around again. So this story, originally written in 2007, takes place one year later, meaning that because of the off-canon way in which I had made Kagome older to begin with, it has now been over three years since she originally fell down the well, and she's eighteen years old. The first two chapters contain several flashbacks that will help bring everyone up to speed regarding what we missed during the last year of their lives together.

**Please note:** Though I'm not focusing too strongly on keeping with the original canon throughout the entire story – and in truth these Halloween stories are off-canon to begin with because of Kagome's age difference and inclusion of the anime – several aspects of the later chapters of the manga (stopping at chapter 525) are included throughout the various flashbacks in the first two chapters. I especially focus on the events leading up to and within chapter 525 during one particular battle scene, shown in flashback mode. Chapter 525 was the newest chapter of the manga at that time, when this battle scene was originally written, and so the story veers away from the manga in its entirety from that point onward, as in _this _universe, the events of manga chapters 526 and beyond _didn't happen_.

Enjoy!

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It's my life

It's now or never

I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive

- Bon Jovi

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Chapter 1 – To Live While I'm Alive

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"Be careful Inuyasha!" Kagome called while aiming her bow, "He's got two jewel shards, one in each fist."

"Got it!" the hanyou called back, dodging one of said fists, which had been aiming right for his head. That would have hurt.

The ugly excuse for an oni had come out of nowhere, meandering through the woods and loudly proclaiming its desire for their jewel shards, in no way appearing to possess the capacity for higher thought process. Still, the dumb brute was a good twenty feet high, with fists like steal, thanks to his shard-enhanced one-two punch, and our couple quickly learned the horrid truth behind the expression 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall.'

"What I wouldn't give for the Hiraikotsu right about now." Kagome mumbled more to herself, as she let her arrow fly. Fortunately, her aim was true, as the tiny glowing projectile succeeded where she knew the bone boomerang would have also, in cleanly severing the beast's hand from his arm.

"Nice shot!" Inuyasha proclaimed, genuinely impressed, as he managed to slice off the monster's other hand using Tetsusaiga.

Unfortunately, because of the mystical powers that be when it came to jewel shards, both of the oni's severed hands were rapidly on their way to rejoining with their host's body. Fortunately, Inuyasha was able to annihilate the youkai with his Wind Scar attack before they had a chance to make contact.

Kagome grimaced in disgust as she plucked the tainted jewel shards from the remaining severed hands, which had lost all signs of life upon the destruction of their master.

"Gross." the miko complained, wiping a blob of blood from her hand against the bark of a nearby tree.

Feeling his aura approach her from behind, Kagome knew he was there, even though he hadn't made a sound, as she turned to greet him with a tired smile.

"That was some fancy shootin'." Inuyasha smirked, imitating the dialog of the Western movie he had watched with Souta not too long ago.

"Many thanks, kind sir." Kagome teased back, as she then proceeded to pull out the puffy sides of her hibakama, as though her billowing red pants were actually a dress, as she curtsied to the best of her ability.

Losing their composure in the silliness of the moment, they both started laughing, before Inuyasha draped a loving arm around his wife's shoulder while stating, "Come on, let's go find us a stream to wash up in. You stink."

"Gee thanks."

**~~~Flashback~~~**

Facing the day of the 'morning after' was definitely going to be one of the toughest things that Inuyasha had ever had to do in his entire life, though at least he wouldn't be facing the day alone.

Lazily circling the index claw of his right hand over the sensitive flesh of his lover's belly, waking up with Kagome in his arms had actually been a rather pleasant sensation, until he suddenly bolted upright at the horrifying realization that he'd fallen asleep in the first place. He was supposed to have moved to the floor before her family got home, damn it! At least, that had been the rule he had silently made for himself, which he'd planned on obeying just as soon as Kagome had fallen asleep.

Speaking of our futuristic miko, prior to Inuyasha's panic, Kagome had been suspended somewhere in that wonderful limbo between sleep and wakefulness, somewhat aware of the hanyou whose hand had stealthily crept underneath her pajama top, while still remaining blissfully unaware of how foreign that sensation _should _have been…until she was rather rudely thrust into full cognizant awareness by said hanyou suddenly bolting upright beside her.

Before she had a chance to protest, though, a gentle knocking on her bedroom door caused them both to freeze rather comically, their eyes trained on the door that Kagome instantly realized, with foreboding, was not locked.

"You two awake yet?" Came her mother's gentle voice from the other side. "Breakfast is ready."

_I guess the cat's out of the bag_… Kagome groaned internally, glancing to her side. _Or dog, whatever_.

At least they had put some clothes back on after their 'activities' of the night before, though Inuyasha was just wearing a pair of her more baggy sweatpants, while she sported a cute pajama set. Their 'day' clothes had been gathered into a semi-organized pile near her closet door.

...o...o...

While breakfast was understandably awkward, at least for our young lovers, Mrs. Higurashi was the embodiment of tranquility. Still, she didn't wanted to put off what she felt was a rather necessary conversation, especially considering that now was the perfect opportunity to discuss such things, what with Souta having already left for school earlier that morning, and Kagome's grandfather currently out tending to the shrine grounds. Despite their protesting blushes, Kagome and Inuyasha both answered her questions truthfully, and Kagome's mother was actually surprised to learn that the night before had been their first time together. She was well aware of her daughter's feelings for the hanyou boy, and she also knew that her daughter had been on birth control for the last two years. She had been the one who'd had to approve the prescription, after all.

At that revelation, the young miko could do nothing but shrug sheepishly at Inuyasha's accusing glare, while muttering something about "Just in case?" in a hesitant, questioning fashion. He was quick to forgive her, however, admittedly having known of her feelings for him for quite some time, and embarrassment aside, he actually felt honored to learn that her mother apparently approved of them being together.

The morning then became awkward for a second time, when Mrs. Higurashi asked them what their plans were for the future. While hesitant to do so, Kagome knew that she couldn't lie to her mother, and so reluctantly, they both came clean regarding the various uncertainties that they still faced. Mrs. Higurashi then proceeded to surprise them both yet again by not being upset, but rather, she took that moment to express her genuine understanding regarding their desire to share whatever time they had together. In a rare moment, she spoke briefly of Kagome's father, expressing that even if she had known how limited their time together was going to be, she still would have married him anyway.

The word 'marriage' started to make Kagome fidget, but it was Inuyasha who surprised both Higurashi women, then, by quickly proclaiming his desire to maintain Kagome's honor by having themselves properly wed, at least by the customs in his own time. He was only mildly embarrassed by the embrace the miko gave him at his words, flushing at her mother's amusement. Her look of humor was quick to fade into one of genuine appreciation, though, as Mrs. Higurashi patted Inuyasha on the shoulder, and stated with sincerity, "Welcome to the family."

**~~~End Flashback~~~**

_On the road again_… Kagome sang in her mind, happily looping her arm through the arm of the man beside her, as they walked together down the nearly abandoned and overgrown mountain pathway.

It had been almost one full year since she'd managed to convince her hanyou companion to accompany her to her friends' Halloween party. It had been almost one full year since the impromptu confession of their feelings for one another. It had been almost one full year since they'd first expressed those feelings in the most intimate of acts that any two people could partake in, and they'd continued to express their love for each other ever since. Whenever circumstances permitted, anyway.

Coming out of the mountains and meeting up with a more frequently traveled path through the valley, Kagome reluctantly released her grip of the man beside her, exhaling with a weary sigh. She wasn't ashamed of her love for him, but she couldn't risk allowing another traveler on the road to see them acting so 'familiar' with one another. Especially since she was a miko in the eyes of the world at large, and a miko could _not _be 'familiar' with a hanyou. She'd already learned _that _lesson the hard way. Inuyasha, upon sensing her displeasure, risked the briefest of touches upon her shoulder, as he glanced apologetically in her direction. His nose had assured him that they were still alone for the time being, though that could change fairly quickly as they neared the next village.

"I'm sorry." he murmured, knowing she would understand what he was referring to. "It's just…it's better this way."

Though Kagome was loath to admit that he was actually rightabout something so horrible, she still nodded her understanding nonetheless. Slipping his hand from her shoulder, Inuyasha adjusted the yellow strap that was currently clinging to his own – he wasn't about to let _her_ carry the heavy monstrosity all day long – before promptly folding his arms within the sleeves of his suikan. He had to keep his arms crossed within his sleeves; it was the only way he could successfully refrain from touching her. He also sped up his pace, just a little bit, until he was walking in front of her rather than by her side, as an equal. While at first glance it may seem demeaning that a miko was following behind a youkai, rather than the other way around, it was the simple fact that Kagome _was _a miko that made this arrangement much more acceptable. After all, for a miko to walk in front of a youkai would mean that she had her back to him, which would mean that she was either very stupid, or very trusting, and when it came to most people's opinions on the matter, trusting a youkai _was _very stupid. No miko in their right mind would willingly expose their back in such a manner. Having the youkai walk in front of _her _meant that she could keep her eye on him, and that if he tried anything, she'd be able to get a shot out before he did any serious harm. And Kagome _was_ armed. A full quiver of arrows rested snuggly on her shoulder, unhindered since he was carrying her backpack, while she clutched the bow from Mt. Azusa firmly in her grasp. She had to maintain her white-knuckle grip on the weapon; it was the only way she could successfully refrain from touching him.

A brief gust of wind hinted at the upcoming winter chill, and not for the first time, Kagome was grateful for her change in attire. Having ruined a few too many school uniforms over the years, her mother had finally insisted that they were just too expensive an outfit to go traipsing across all of the Sengoku jidai in, but at the same time, Kagome didn't much fancy the idea of destroying her personal clothing, either, so it had quickly been decided by both mother and daughter that switching to the means of dress for the time period made the most sense. At first, she had started dressing in simple yukata, which had given Inuyasha rather pleasant flashbacks. But those long and tightly bound robes quickly proved dysfunctional when needing to chase after a shard bearing youkai via rapidly paced hanyou-back riding.

It was actually Kaede who had first breached the delicate subject of miko garments, and while Kagome had immediately started to protest on principle alone, she had been surprised into silence when the hanyou sitting beside her had suddenly agreed that it was the best solution available.

"You _are _a miko." he had told her, and that had pretty much ended the discussion right there, at least for the time being. Though their relationship hadn't been kept a secret from their friends, he still hadn't felt comfortable revealing his 'softer side' in the presence of others.

Later that night, Inuyasha had confessed to Kagome, in private, his regret for how he'd compared her to Kikyou back in the beginning, and how he had expressed distaste in her ever wearing the clothing of a miko. He'd reiterated his comprehension that both she and Kikyou were two very different people, and that he loved her for her, Ka-go-me. He had also pointed out that were she dressed in the clothing of a miko, they would likely encounter much less trouble during their travels, both in the literal sense of the outfit being made to move during battle, and also in the visual sense, with displaying herself as the spiritually powerful being that she was. She _was _a miko, after all, as he had reminded her again in that moment with a playful tap on the nose. It was high time she let _other_ people know it, as well. Kagome had smiled warmly at his words, and pulling him into a quick embrace, she had dared a small kiss only because they were in friendly territory, before heading back to Kaede's hut to sleep.

Ever since that day over five months ago, Kagome had been wearing the traditional garb of a miko, and now that the temperatures were dropping, her covered legs rejoiced in the decision. While it had seemed odd, at first, to be referred to by strangers as "Miko-sama", it was certainly a vast improvement over what some of them _used _to call her.

Coming closer to the outskirts of town, they did indeed meet up with another traveler on the road, heading in the opposite direction. He gazed fearfully in Inuyasha's direction, giving the youkai a wide birth, while Inuyasha pointedly ignored the man, knowing from countless years of experience that making eye contact would only spook him further. The man's eyes then landed on the miko behind him, who nodded her head at the traveler in a reassuring fashion. It was an act that Kagome felt sick over having perfected so well, but she supposed that practice _did_ make perfect, as the saying went. She just had trouble stomaching the idea of letting people think that Inuyasha was somehow her 'servant'.

Inquiring in the village they came upon if anyone had heard rumors of anything strange, anything that might lead to a jewel shard, Kagome had to literally bite her tongue on several occasions to avoid spouting off anything inappropriate in response to the rude words she heard regarding her traveling companion. Many cautioned her that a 'beast such as that' couldn't be trusted, and, not for the first time, a strong man offered to accompany her on her mission, to 'protect' her from the creature. Kagome found it truly a wonder that Inuyasha managed to keep his own tongue in check, but truth be told, he was used to it, and so as long as nobody threatened or insulted Kagome directly, they could say whatever they wanted to about him.

_This is why Sango and Miroku always did all the talking before_, the miko reflected with a sigh, remembering how in the past, she and Inuyasha would usually stay away from the crowds while the slayer and monk asked the questions. Her anger over what had been said about her hanyou lover, while he was standing right there, no less, still burned behind her eyes as they were led to their room for the night. 'Room' being the operative word, which had caused quite a commotion at the Inn.

Kagome had learned a while back that there was no way in hell that Inuyasha would ever allow her to stay in a room all by herself, without even the taijiya for protection. So, still in character, she'd started with her usual insistence that her reasoning for requesting a single room was so that she could better protect _them_…presumably from her youkai companion. Usually, that worked, because nobody wanted to think about what a youkai (or a hanyou, in this case) could do in their village if left to his own devises, and so therefore, they were grateful that the miko had every intention of keeping him in her custody throughout the duration of the night. When that story hadn't worked _this _time around, as they'd simply said they could assist her with sealing him in another room before she retired to her own chamber, she had resorted to insisting that it was for his _own _protection, as well. She didn't care whatthey thought of her for saying such a thing. She wasn't stupid, or at least, she wasn't any longer. She hadn't missed the rather hateful glances some of the men had been sending his way upon entering the village, and so while glaring pointedly in certain gulping people's directions, Kagome had confidently went on to express how she wouldn't put it passed 'someone' to take it upon themselves to attempt to rid her of her seemingly dangerous, yet extremely _necessary _associate.

"He is my responsibility, and as such, shall remain in my sight at all times. Is that clear?"

Though it was obvious that nobody liked it, they had eventually backed down to her wishes.

"Gods…" she groaned, now that they were finally alone. "Did Kikyou ever go through this mess back when you two were together?"

Kagome had long ago gotten over her insecurities regarding her preincarnation's place in her husband's heart. Kikyou had passed on, she was at peace, and Kagome refused to allow her memory to remain a sore spot between them.

"We hardly ever traveled." he answered in a normal, conversational tone. Inuyasha had also matured quite a bit over the last year, and was now more open with his past and his feelings, at least in private. Having Kagome for a wife will do that to you.

"Usually, we just stayed in the village, fighting off anything that came to _us _in search of the jewel. On the few times that we did travel, if word had reached us of a troublesome youkai that needed to be taken care of somewhere else, nobody really gave a damn _who _came to protect their sorry assess just so long as the youkai threatening them got slain."

Nodding her understanding, Kagome applied one of her grandfather's useless sutra to Inuyasha's chest, quickly placing a chaste kiss upon his lips before whispering goodnight and settling into her futon. Everything they knew to do, in their elaborate scheme of precautions against getting found out, had been learned through painful trial and error. Though they had never been dumb enough to actually attempt being intimate in a village Inn, they'd learned it was wise to make it _appear _as though doing so wasn't even a remote possibility. Wearing the false sealing charm, Inuyasha settled into the corner, Tetsusaiga resting against the wall right beside him. If somebody dared peak their head into their room, he would maintain the farce that he couldn't move, unless it became necessary to grab Kagome and run.

**~~~Flashback~~~**

Returning through the well that November morning was a trying experience for them both. Just as Inuyasha had predicted, Shippou, and even Kirara, could instantly detect the alteration in their joined scents, although the nekomata was remarkably more tactful in her discovery, as she seemingly nodded her head in their direction before silently trotting away.

Even though they'd each taken a shower, separately – her mother _had _been home at the time – it would still take a few days for the scent of their mating to leave their bodies completely.

Before either of them could figure out the best way to break the ice to their human companions, Shippou suddenly blurted out, "You two mated!" in a shocked, almost horrified fashion, like the tone of voice a mother might use with her teenage daughter upon discovering something like an exotic piercing or tattoo.

"Really now?" Miroku grinned lecherously, agilely dodging Sango's Hiraikotsu when he sensed the weapon being flung towards his head. "Why, Inuyasha…" he continued, grinning like mad, much to the hanyou's humiliation, "I didn't know you had it in you." he congratulated.

Kagome was horribly embarrassed, and Sango was just about to come to her friend's defense with a vengeance when Inuyasha somehow managed to swallow the lump in his throat before getting the monk back at his own game.

"Well, it was just like you said, Houshi." he started, already throwing the monk off guard with his rather polite use of the term _Houshi_, rather than his more common, derogatory favorite, _Bouzu_. "If there's one thing we've all learned through the hardships that bastard Naraku has made us endure, it's that we must _live _while we are alive. Honestly, I'm surprised at you two, deciding to wait until after he's defeated. What if _you _die before _he_ does? If you're worried about conceiving, I can sniff out when Sango's fertile so that you can avoid it."

While he'd said it in a playful, teasing manner, and somewhat regretted causing Sango's embarrassment in addition to the monk's, Inuyasha actually meant what he said, and offered.

Thankfully, the taijiya knew that, and overcoming her own humiliation for the moment, she managed to glare daggers at the man currently waggling his eyebrows at her, as she insisted, "Not without a proper wedding, hentai."

That opened can of worms having been quite thoroughly flung up into the air, Kagome was ever so grateful that that time period at least didn't have ceiling fans. The apologetic glance Sango quickly offered her, over the taijiya's sudden realization of what her own _foot _tasted like, didn't help matters any, either. Once again, out of the mouth of babes, it was Shippou who pierced the thickening silence with his proclamation that Inuyasha had _better _do the right thing by their companion and marry Kagome properly.

That of course triggered Inuyasha's rather mature reply of, "I was _going _to, you little brat!" as he promptly chased after the kitsune who'd stuck his tongue out at him.

Turning back to her friends, Kagome grinned sheepishly, her cheeks still sporting a fairly decent cherry hue, as she addressed Miroku, "So, um…we were going to ask you…that is…"

"Say no more." he assured her with a polite raise of his hand to silence her fumbling. In a rare moment of complete sincerity, Miroku said, "It would be my honor."

Seeing her friend's sudden and rather wistful expression, Kagome teasingly gestured in Sango's direction, as she managed to lose her own shyness and comment, "Maybe we'll need Kaede's assistance, as well. Looks like it'll be a double-wedding."

...o...o...

After the initial shock of some sudden, and rather important changes in _all _of their lives, things were quickly 'business as usual' for our strange group of traveling companions, as they headed back out once again in search of rumors of Naraku. Kagome, still dressed in her school uniform for the time being, surprised and delighted her husband by reaching for his hand to hold in her own as they walked side-by-side. It would take Inuyasha some time to get used to the fact that Kagome was not opposed to openly displaying their affection for one another. While such a display of familiarity would undoubtedly be unwise while in the presence of strangers, their friends only offered them the occasional teasing smile.

Sleeping arrangements were understandably altered somewhat, too, not that anybody was complaining, though at first Shippou didn't much care for how something _else _had changed around camp. The kitsune had learned fairly quickly that Kagome wouldn't come to his rescue any longer by _sitting _Inuyasha after he pushed the hanyou too far. She refused to abuse the power of the rosary any longer, and expressed to Shippou plainly enough that if he wanted Inuyasha to leave him alone, that he needed to stop antagonizing him. Inuyasha, for his part, understood that the kitsune thought of Kagome like a surrogate mother, and drilled it into the brat's head that _that _meant that he was to be respected as a father figure. While they hadn't officially 'adopted' the kit, yet, Inuyasha was still the alpha-male of their rag-tag pack, and it was high time the little snot acknowledged that fact. As a reward for his compliance, reluctant though it was, Inuyasha permitted the kitsune to continue snuggling against Kagome in his sleep, so long as he kept his trap shut regarding how _he _also cuddled against Kagome from the other side.

Miroku also managed to maintain a respectable silence, which was due largely in part to the fact that Sango had threatened to revert _their _sleeping arrangements back to opposite sides of the campfire unless he left their friends alone. Not wishing to upset his lovely wife, or risk losing her even more lovely warmth as he slept, the monk managed, _somehow_, to behave himself.

They were eight days in on their latest journey when Inuyasha suddenly declared that he detected a 'stink' on the wind, and the casual way in which he'd said it instantly let the others know that it had nothing to do with Naraku. Though Kagome could no longer sense Kouga coming as he approached, the ookami was still remarkably fast, even without his jewel shards, and it was only a matter of moments after Inuyasha's declaration that the wolf made his appearance.

Though Inuyasha and Kagome hadn't yet had the opportunity to reengage in 'certain' activities, his close proximity to the girl at night had successfully managed to bathe her quite thoroughly in his scent, and he in hers. He often slipped his hands underneath her clothing to splay across her breasts or belly, or sometimes even lower, when he was certain the kitsune was asleep, of course. He never took the action beyond what Kagome would appreciate while in the company of others, he just needed to touch her, and thankfully, she understood that. She even reciprocated by sometimes sliding a hand backwards to touch _him_, as well. As dangerous as he knew it was, especially if Naraku ever found out, his baser instinct still insisted that they coat each other with as much of their partner's scent as was physically possible. She was his, and he was hers, and _nobody_ would be able to dispute that. Any claims that inu-youkai did not follow the automatic 'mating for life' protocol that some youkai species did were overruled by the very real fact that he was also half human, and _she _was human, and as such, he had honored not only her, but himself as well, by marrying her in the human tradition.

The confrontation with Kouga actually went rather well, all things considered. Everyone had feared a blood bath, except for Inuyasha, who more relished in the idea rather than feared it. But even so, _everyone _had been expecting a battle. Kagome had probably feared the outcome more than anyone, since she had already promised Inuyasha that she would never again abuse her power over the rosary. He had promised her in return that he wouldn't kill the wolf, and she had to trust him on that. She couldn't 'sit' him, or he'd lose his trust in _her_. While he had insisted that the rosary stay in place, because he himself still feared what he was capable of were he ever to lose himself to a transformation, Kagome was only allowed to 'sit'him when it was absolutely necessary.

Kouga appeared on schedule, emerging from a cloud of dust, and as usual, he grabbed Kagome's wrists before anyone even had a chance to blink. Then, just as predicted, Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga, angrily growling that he release Kagome at once, while the wolf completely ignored him, asking Kagome how she was doing, and if 'mutt-face' was taking care of her properly in his absence. That's when things got a little more interesting.

"You have no idea." Miroku smirked quietly to himself, although regrettably not quietly _enough_.

Insecure after such a comment, Kouga gazed more closely at 'his woman', and noting the way she seemed to be attempting to free her hands from his grasp, he promptly tightened his grip on her wrists to the point where she would be unable to do so. Kagome's heart rate doubled in her chest at that action, and not in a good way. While Kouga's grip wasn't causing her any pain, it scared her that he would think to grab her so tightly. The definite flaring of his nostrils, as he deeply inhaled her scent, was also just as unnerving, as was his increasingly hostile expression as he did so.

Inuyasha instantly detected the spike in Kagome's fear, and all hell broke loose.

"What the hell are you doing?" he shouted, rapidly approaching the pair. "Let go you bastard! You'll hurt her!"

"I would never…" he started to growl at the hanyou in automatic self-defense, but Inuyasha's close proximity, bringing with it his own current mixture of scents, was simply the final straw for the wolf. Kouga knew what had happened between them, and he was _not _pleased.

Kagome absolutely _reeked _of the hanyou's scent, much more so than usual, and while there was no actual scent of recent mating, his nose would have had to be blind to miss the fact that the hanyou's scent was coming from _underneath _her clothing. Couple that with the fact that the hanyou also smelled strongly of Kagome, and it was a no-brainer. Usually, Kagome's scent was only present on Inuyasha's body in a few very select locations. Some scent transfer was bound to happen when she rode on his back, for example. But the hanyou did _not _merely have Kagome's scent on his _back_. Her sent was all over him. On his chest, on his neck, on his ears…which was a dead giveaway that _something _had changed between them right there…and, what angered Kouga the most, was what the hanyou's _hands _smelled like. He suddenly had no desire to smell Kagome's hands, and was instantly grateful that he had actually grabbed her by her wrists instead.

"You bastard." he whispered harshly, aiming his comment at Inuyasha, while at the same time shoving Kagome away from himself in disgust. Everyone was surprised by the action, having expected Kouga to draw his own rarely used sword and challenge Inuyasha officially for her hand.

"What the fu-" Inuyasha started to protest, his eyes trained on Kagome's form to be sure she was unharmed. A confused expression, with a reluctant nod, assured him that she was uninjured. But he never finished his curse as he had been interrupted, and after registering the fact that Kagome was okay, his mind permitted him to realize just what it was that the wolf had just said.

"That was fucking low, hanyou."

"Excuse me?" he blinked, surprised by the acidity behind the cursed term. Usually, Kouga ripped him on his mixed heritage a little more playfully, with jibes like 'mutt-face' or the like. Never had he heard Kouga straight up call him 'hanyou' before, and with the two of them currently sharing the same enemy as they were, even their normal insults for one another had been growing less frequent in recent months.

"You heard me." The wolf spat, fire dancing in his crystal blue eyes. "That was a really low thing to do, taking Kagome away from me like that."

Smirking, which was probably not the wisest move in the world, Inuyasha smugly rested the transformed Tetsusaiga against his shoulder, as he asked cockily, "What're ya gonna do about it?"

Miroku tried to stifle a laugh, while Sango smacked herself on the forehead. Shippou had long ago found a secure place to hide, while Kagome proceeded to groan to herself in mild annoyance, still prepared to stand by her decision, and her husband, regardless of how immature he could be at times.

"Why you…" the ookami ground out, but Kagome quickly decided that _that _was her cue to intervene.

"Kouga," she started slowly, "You never had me. I never agreed to be yours. I chose Inuyasha willingly. I'm sorry; I never meant to hurt you. I hope we can still be friends."

Typical Kagome things to say, Inuyasha thought with a smile. Too bad Kouga had never really taken the time to get to know the woman he'd claimed as his since the day they'd met.

"Oh shut up, you humans just don't understand."

Now it was Kagome's turn to blink in surprise. "Ex-_excuse_ me?"

"I had a legitimate claim on you." Kouga explained to the miko in exasperation, as though she were a total moron. "I announced you as _my _woman to my entire pack! It wasn't up to you to _chose _who you wanted, it was between me and the mutt. If Inu-_kuso_ had had any honor, then he would have challenged me for the right to claim you, officially. But half-breeds don't understand the _concept _of honor."

He spat that last part with disgust, ignorant to the confused anger rolling off of Kagome's aura in waves. He even went on to say how Inuyasha had _ruined _her on purpose. How the mutt had known that all he had to do was bed her, and then he'd have no choice but to drop his claim. He couldn't challenge the hanyou for her _now_. She was no longer fit to be his mate, now that she had previously been touched by another. It was like stealing somebody's food, and quickly eating it before they had a chance to fight you for it. Sure, he could still kick Inuyasha's ass, but what would be the point? He could never get Kagome back now, even if he _killed_ him. What was done was done.

"Inu-youkai don't even honor their mates with life-long commitments." he added, which earned a strong reaction when Inuyasha started to protest with, "Now wait just a damn minute-" but Kouga still wasn't done yet.

"He knew he'd lose, that's why he did the underhanded thing and took you for himself behind my back." he finished.

Everyone, including Kagome, expected Inuyasha to defend his own male pride against the wolf's accusation that he feared losing a confrontation, so it was with great surprise, and love on Kagome's part, that they bore witness to a different argument entirely.

"You fucking ignorant piece of demonic testosterone." he hissed, "Kagome's _human_, you moron. Youkai rules don't applyin their world." Gazing lovingly in her direction for a moment, he turned back to the wolf, and added, "And they don't apply to me, either."

His other two human companions both gasped in surprise at that statement, but ignoring them, the hanyou continued.

"Humans have an emotion called _love_, you fucker. Kagome's not some prize to be won in battle. Believe it or not, it _is _her choice, who she _wants _to be with. If she had truly wanted _you, _in the end, I wouldn't have stopped her. But she chose _me_. She _loves_ me. And I love _her_."

"Inu-youkai don't express _love_-" Kouga started to argue sarcastically, but it was now Inuyasha's turn to interrupt, as he continued his ranting.

"As true as that may be where my bastard of a brother is concerned, as you're so _fond _of pointing out, I'm only a 'half-breed', meaning I'm just as much human as I am youkai."

Since Kagome was standing right next to him by that point, he took a moment to gently grip her hand in his, as he turned to look at her with unbridled love in his eyes before saying his final piece.

"I don't care of inu-youkai don't 'mate for life' like ookami-youkai do. The way I see it, that just makes us more like humans. Sure, humans are perfectly capable of whoring around, but _most _humans have enough honor to remain respectfully loyal to a single spouse all their lives. My youkai half may not be from a species that can legitimately claim Kagome as my 'life mate', but my human half can, and _does _claim her as my _wife_. We are married in the human custom, thanks to our friend over there…" He gestured towards Miroku, who bowed nervously at the introduction "…and I plan on honoring Kagome by being a _faithful _husband, for the rest of our lives."

"Don't you mean for the rest of _her _life?" Kouga sneered, still seething over this new development, but submitting to the truth of it nonetheless. "She is mortal, after all." he jabbed.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Kagome spoke up, while squeezing her husband's hand. She and Inuyasha had already had a long talk on the subject, and she hadn't forgotten her grandfather's words regarding a 'right wish' making the jewel disappear forever. But that was beside the point, as far as Kouga was concerned. What did _he _care? "That little fact never seemed to bother _you _any." she pointed out, more than a little upset that he would play the 'mortal' card like that, "Nor the fact that _as _a mortal, our children would have been 'half-breeds'." she finished with a hiss, the term leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

Kouga spluttered at that comment, but did good to keep his trap shut. There was no point in upsetting her further with the admittance that he'd never intended on fathering any cubs with her. While it was true that ookami mated for life, that meant that he would've been free to take another upon her death. He would have been unwaveringly loyal to Kagome during her relatively short lifespan, including her elderly years, but nothing could dispute the simple fact that the girl _was_ mortal.

With a final word that they'd better stay out of his way when it came to killing Naraku, Kouga eventually took his leave of them, the atmosphere around the inu-tachi growing increasingly awkward after his departure. Reluctantly, they trudged onward after a moment, continuing down the same road they had been traveling on prior to Kouga's appearance.

Kagome tried not to let the wolf's words get to her, knowing how even most human men of that time period felt that a woman was 'ruined' if they had previously slept with another, whether or not the woman had had any say in the matter. Still, it managed to bother her for quite a while, that someone who claimed to love her so deeply would just as soon toss her aside because of something like that. He hadn't even challenged Inuyasha for her at all, because the 'damage' had already been done. She'd always defended that Kouga was her friend, but it was clear to her now that the wolf youkai had nodesire to continue associating with her whatsoever. She was a whore in his eyes, having slept with Inuyasha without first being 'won' by her husband in a fair battle. It reminded her of a time, when she was much younger, that she'd gotten upset with Souta over sitting shot-gun in their mother's car during a trip to the store after she had already 'called it' as was her defense. He had promptly ignored her claim, and had planted himself on the front passenger seat while she'd still been getting ready.

Was she now comparing herself to the proverbial top bunk? Even so, Inuyasha was the one she wanted, so Kagome was honestly glad that he had 'taken her away' from Kouga, as it were. Still, his words kept ringing in her ears throughout the remainder of the day, even as they set up camp that evening. She needed some alone time with her husband to sort out her thoughts, and to his credit, the hanyou, who in truth only _played _stupid and oblivious to the subtleties around him, knew exactly what to say.

He told her that night, in private, that his desire to be with her had had _nothing _to do with simply wishing to foil Kouga's claim. He told her again that he loved her, adding how he had _never _known true love, until her. He even dared breaching the subject of Kikyou, something he sincerely hoped would not remain a tender spot between them forever, as he explained that while he had loved the deceased miko, in a way, the tender way in which he'd cared for Kikyou in his heart had been no where _near _as intense as the blazing fire he felt in his very soul for the miko currently wrapped in his arms. He even went on to admit that he would have still loved her, and would have still wanted to be with her, even if she had previously been touched by another. Of course, he _also_ said that he would've been forced to hunt that bastard down, and "rip his dick off and shove it down his throat", but coming from Inuyasha, his words meant more to her than she figured he'd ever realize.

**~~~End Flashback~~~**

Heading out the following morning, Kagome did the best she could to ignore the heated glances sent in Inuyasha's direction, since he had _dared _to share in some of the breakfast that had been provided for _her _before their departure.

"I cannot have my warrior running low on strength, now can I?" had been her seeminglyamused reply, sounding as condescending as possible, while in reality, she'd wanted to defend his right to _eat _like any _other _person.

She somehow managed to successfully hold her temper as they continued to travel away from the village, until Inuyasha finally let her know that they were safely out of sight and out of earshot.

"Okay…" was all he said, and as though she had been waiting for his permission to get upset – which she sort of had been, or at least she'd been waiting for the signal that she could safely express it outwardly – Kagome instantly flung herself into his waiting embrace.

"It's not fair!" she cried, locking her arms around his neck, while he delicately rested his hands on her hips.

Inuyasha remained silent and just held her, just letting her get it all out. She needed to compose herself before they approached the next village.

"It's not fair…" she repeated, calming down, as her sobs lightened up to quiet sniffles. "You shouldn't be treated like a monster just because you're half youkai."

"Being half monster makes you a monster." Inuyasha answered softly, leaning forward to place a tender kiss upon her forehead.

"But you're not a monster." Kagome argued, "Not even being_ full _youkai automatically makes someone a monster."

"Being full youkai makes _me _a monster." he pointed out quietly.

Glaring up at him with a very _'That's not what I meant and you know it' _look in her eyes, she instead retorted with, "What about Shippou? Is _he _a monster?"

"He's a nuisance." the hanyou chuckled.

"But you love him."

Stiffening, he looked her dead in the eye, as he stated quite seriously, "Don't let _him _know that, or he'll never let me live it down."

Relieved that he had managed to change Kagome's tears into giggles, Inuyasha hugged the girl to him as tightly as he dared, ever mindful of her fragile human body.

"So…" he decided to break the silence after a moment, "What are you gonna dress up as this year?"

They'd already discussed once again celebrating Halloween in Kagome's time, which was quickly approaching in less than two weeks. She had no idea what her friends in her time had planned for the holiday, if anything, but she was certain that they could come up with _something _to pass the time. Inuyasha had reluctantly admitted to having had fun at the party last year, save for the candy corn incident. It had been such a unique experience for him, simply 'hanging out' with other the humans, none of them treating him any differently than one of their own. He wouldn't mind doing that again. He wouldn't mind it at all. Kagome was also looking forward to the upcoming holiday, though for a much more personal reason. She'd told Inuyasha once how she thought they'd picked the _perfect _date to become their anniversary, as the time of year enabled Inuyasha to walk the streets unafraid of displaying his true appearance. To her, all that truly mattered was Inuyasha's happiness, and being able to feel comfortable in his own skin for even one night out of the year was more than the hanyou had ever dared to dream possible before meeting Kagome. They'd need to start heading back to Kaede's in another three days, tops, if they planned on making it back in time for the holiday. The calendar waited for no one.

Thinking about what he'd just asked her, that had gotten her mind going off on its own for a moment there, Kagome finally snapped herself back into reality to answer his question.

"Well, I still have all the stuff from last year." she offered, "And since your costume choice is rather limited…"

"You don't have to be a hanyou again on my account." he assured her, playfully tapping her nose before confessing, "You looked weird."

Chuckling, Kagome asked, "Well, what did you have in mind then?"

He knew she was a stickler for matching costumes, and gazing at her now, with the noonday sun reflecting off the natural blue highlights of her hair, Inuyasha asked his wife with all sincerity, "What's wrong with what you're wearing now? You look beautiful."

Glancing down over herself on instinct, despite the fact that she already knew what she was wearing, Kagome then raised her eyes back up to meet his own, as she asked for clarification, "Miko robes? Are you sure?"

"Keh, why not? Never seen nobody wearing that stuff in your time before, so they'd definitely make good dress-up. Hardly see any robes at all, everyone wearing that 'Western influence' stuff you people call clothing. Bet they still got miko hanging 'round the temples, but that makes it all the better, 'cause then people will at least recognize what you're dressed up as. It's appropriate, too, since you _do _live at a shrine 'n' all."

Smiling at the realization that he'd obviously thought a great deal on the subject, she asked him playfully, "What about you?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, he answered, "We'll just say we're the miko and hanyou from that legend, how 'bout that?"

Of course, the truth was that he _was _the hanyou from that legend, and Kikyou had been the miko. Suddenly wondering if he'd perhaps gone too far, with suggesting that Kagome actually pretend she's dressed in costume as her old rival in love, despite the tiny little detail that she _was _Kikyou's reincarnation, Inuyasha's worries were instantly laid to rest when Kagome merely tapped her chin in thought before finally commenting, "Well, Jii-chan doeshave those fake Shikon jewel key chains…"

...o...o...

Fortunately, the next village they stopped at was much nicer to Inuyasha than the last one. The villagers there actually recognized the duo from their previous travels, when they'd still been hunting Naraku. At that time, the village had been under attack, and just like Inuyasha had said the night before, people under attack never cared who saved them so long as the attacking youkai got taken care of. He had been welcomed in the village along side his human companions that night, as they had all feasted in celebration of the victory of defeating the oni that would have surely killed them all had the inu-tachi not happened by. Unfortunately, the villagers were unable to offer the pair any word on jewel shards this time around, but Kagome and Inuyasha were offered a hot meal, and a place to sleep, with little to no odd glances as they were shown to their single room for the night.

For Kagome's part, she was relieved that she could at least drop the routine of superiority over her companion for even a single night, treating Inuyasha as the equal that he was, even while in the company of others. The villagers there already knew of their partnership from before, after all. Kagome was the miko entrusted with protecting the Sacred jewel, and Inuyasha was _her_ protector, to help her collect the jewel shards from the terrible youkai she surely wouldn't be able to face down all on her own. In exchange for his services as her protector in battle, she also protected him, in spirit, giving him a purpose as a miko's assistant – not servant – as she in turn assisted him with redemption for possessing youkai blood.

Okay, so they didn't have their story 100% accurate, but Kagome would rather that they believed he was attempting to atone for his youkai blood, which at least acknowledged the fact that he _did _possess a human heart, rather than merely thinking him a bloodthirsty monster. She also knew that they'd start singing a different tune _real _quickly if they ever found out the two of them were actually _married_, but Kagome figured what the villagers didn't know wouldn't hurt them. 'Them' actually referring to Inuyasha and herself.

The rising of the sun the following morning meant that it was once again time to depart, but this time, instead of continuing further up the road in search of yet another village, our pair decided that they'd best start heading back towards Kaede's village. They didn't want to push it until the very last minute, after all, and there _was _a new moon between then and Halloween, so that would slow them down for one night already. The good news was that with deciding to head back to Kaede's village, Inuyasha could now detour through the wilds of the forest, rather than sticking to the beaten path. It was a considerable shortcut, and also offered he and Kagome the genuine privacy they had so desperately been missing during their last few nights indoors.

While it was true that they sometimes missed their other traveling companions, neither Kagome nor Inuyasha could blame the pair for wanting to settle down and start a family following the destruction of Naraku. It wasn't their responsibility to recollect the jewel shards, after all, and the monk and slayer had already been traveling together, as man and wife, for _months, _without having any true amount of time to be together. Now, with Sango and Miroku happily settled into Kaede's village, and little Shippou staying behind more often than not as well, for his own protection, Kagome and Inuyasha relished in the chance to truly be alonefor a while, themselves. It was a win/win situation, when you looked at it that way.

Still, they longed for the day when they too could stop their endless hunting, and settle down in the village like their friends had done. Nobody had expected the jewel to become shattered again, and while in a way, Kagome enjoyed having her adventure continue, another part of her was ready to get it over and done with by that point. Not that that meant she was in any hurry to rush back to her own time. As far as she was concerned, her place was with Inuyasha. She still did her best to struggle through school, though she was more or less just keeping up appearances by that point. Fortunately, it was almost over, as she would be graduating that year. Hopefully…if she kept her grades good enough. But either way, it was going to be her last year of school, no matter what. She wasn't going to repeat her senior year if she failed to graduate, and she had no intention of enrolling in college, either, if she did pass high school. Kagome also wouldn't be looking for a job, or doing any of the other stuff that young adults did in her world. At age eighteen, Kagome could legally decide for herself what she wanted to do with her life, and she had already told her family that she planned on staying with Inuyasha in the past. Hopefully, if the well didn't close after their wish, then she'd still continue to visit her family all the time, just as any other grown daughter who had moved out would do. But she had meant what she'd said on that fateful night one year ago, when she had told Inuyasha that if there ever was to be a choice, she would chose him.

...o...o...

Three and a half days in on their journey home, lunch was relatively uneventful, as usual consisting of fish that Inuyasha had caught in a nearby stream.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked his wife, his gentle voice breaking the peaceful silence between them, though it was clear that on some level, he'd had to force himself to ask the seemingly innocent question.

Old habits died hard, and Kagome understood that he might never fully remove the walls around his heart that he had constructed so long ago. While he was still just as gruff and uncaring when in the presence of others, it wasn't so much that he lowered his walls whenever he and Kagome were alone, but more accurately, she thought of it as though he had merely constructed a doorway within said walls, that permitted her, and only her, access through to the other side.

It was a visible effort on his part that was greatly appreciated, as was the way he had noticed that her mind was currently troubled.

"Just remembering a few things." she answered softly, while gesturing around herself to their chosen resting place. "We've stopped here before." she explained, "Back when we first headed out again, just the two of us."

"Oh yeah…" he voiced in realization, as the clearing took on a more familiar appearance at her words.

Honestly, it had all started to blend together after a while. A clearing by a stream was a clearing by a stream, but Kagome was right, they _had _stopped there before. If he wasn't mistaken, then there was a small farming village just a few miles north from there. Lowering his ears, Inuyasha remembered how horrible that experience had been for Kagome. It was shortly after the fall of Naraku, and Miroku and Sango had temporarily settled into Kaede's hut while Miroku worked on building his own hut for himself and his wife. Considering they had already been allotted zero alone time to begin with at that time, what with temporarily sharing a dwelling with the elderly miko while their new home was yet to be constructed, the monk and slayer had easily offered to keep watch over Shippou during the next journey, so that at least Inuyasha and Kagome could get some quality time together. No sense in both couples going without, right?

Kagome had already stopped wearing her school uniform by that point, a decision made after her mother had seen the damage suffered by said uniform during the final battle with the dark hanyou, and as such, she had been wearing a cute little pink yukata with darker pink and green sakura accents at the time. The dress had been from her own century, but had also been relatively inexpensive, and it'd blended in with what Inuyasha considered 'modern society' much better than her weird school uniforms ever did.

**~~~Flashback~~~**

"Isn't this fun?" Kagome giggled, as she walked side-by-side with her fuming hanyou companion.

"I would hardly consider having to recollect all of the fucking jewel shards fun!" he snapped, his ears instantly lowering as he detected the spike of sadness in his wife's scent.

"I'm sorry." he apologized, "But it's just…fuck…what _else _is gonna go wrong?"

"Everything's fine." Kagome answered with a forgiving smile, having gotten over his unexpected reaction to her statement. She knew he wasn't really angry with _her_.

"If you say so."

"Well, look at it this way. At least Naraku is dead, and Magatsuhi can't manifest himself while the jewel is in pieces. Most of the youkai we'd ever encountered with jewel shards before were fairly easy to take down. The only youkai _I _know of that's strong enough to really be considered a major threat if he started collecting jewel shards for himself would be your brother, and since Sesshoumaru has no interest in the jewel…"

She permitted her words to trail off as she hoped Inuyasha would start catching on to her point of view. Yes, it was an inconvenience and disadvantage that the jewel had been shattered again, but it could still be worse. It could be a _lot _worse.

Stopping for lunch in a small clearing by a stream, Kagome worked to add bits of the fish he'd caught into their ramen noodles. Work with what you had, right? Her yellow backpack might still be a bit out of place in that era, but she loved that gaudy monstrosity. Kagome could definitely do a commercial for the manufacturer. It'd stood up against literally everything for over two and a half years now, while she'd gone through uniform after uniform.

After resting for a little while, it was time to head out again, and deciding to head north, they both rejoiced at the sight of a small farming village. While Inuyasha never much cared for staying at human villages, he knew that Kagome didn't much care for camping outdoors, and so if he could give her a roof and proper bedding for even one night, then it would be worth enduring the whispers.

"Excuse me…" Kagome began politely, addressing one of the elderly workers in the field. "Could you please tell me if there might be available lodging in your village for one night? We have coins to pay for a room, of course."

Kagome had never agreed with how Miroku would always con their way into free room and board with false exorcisms.

Glancing up at the sound of a sweet, young voice, the man offered Kagome a smile, at first, until he caught sight of the _thing _that was standing behind her.

"How dare you bring demonic filth into our borders!" he cried in place of whatever response had previously been on his tongue.

"Excuse me?" Kagome asked again, only that time, a little taken aback, and somewhat offended. "Inuyasha is _not _demonic filth, he's-"

"That's enough, Kagome." Inuyasha stepped in, wishing to stop her before she _really _said too much. "We'll just camp out in the forest, come on."

"Not in our forest you won't, vermin!" The man hadn't missed the way they'd addressed each other so familiarly.

"What's your problem?" Kagome all but shouted, completely thrown off guard by how much hostility they were receiving. _It was never this bad before_…

_Yeah, but before, Inuyasha was outnumbered by you, a youkai slayer and a monk_._ He probably didn't seem as threatening when most people figured that either Sango or Miroku could keep him in line… _her mind supplied after a moment.

_That's just ridiculous_...she argued with herself.

"Look," she started after a moment, barely keeping her temper in check, "All we're looking for is a place to sleep for the night. We have _money_."

"I don't care if you have a hime's dowry," the man sneered, speaking lower now, so as not to draw too much unwanted attention from the rest of the villagers. "No youkai beast and his _whore _are going to taint our village with their unholy union."

Kagome gasped, and would have retorted, but she suddenly found herself being literally dragged away by Inuyasha at that point.

**~~~End Flashback~~~**

While that evening might have been the first time that Kagome had encountered just how 'hospitable' most humans could actually be, it most certainly hadn't been the last. Over the next two months, they had come across more harsh words than Kagome had previously been aware even existed. It had quickly become apparent that a young woman traveling _alone _with a hanyou was no where near as acceptable as the larger group they had previously traveled in, which had also consisted of a houshi and taijiya, not to mention a kitsune child and a nekomata. For some reason, nobody ever seemed to have a problem with Shippou or Kirara, but that was probably because most people didn't truly fear kitsune as anything worse than tricksters, or at least they didn't fear one that was still just a child, while Kirara, in her kitten form, probably appeared more like a pet in most people's eyes.

Kagome tried to rack her brain for those first few weeks that she and Inuyasha had been alone before, back when she had been fifteen, but they honestly hadn't stopped at very many villages at that time, probably because of Inuyasha's extra hostility towards humans in general back then, and so she couldn't really say that she had much basis for comparison as a result. Also, she had been so blatantly naive back then that she probably wouldn't have understood what the glares in her direction had meant, even if she had been receiving any. Then they'd picked up little Shippou so quickly, and that alone had already seemed to make all the difference in the world. Looking back on it, the miko supposed that most people had probably just figured that you couldn't be rutting in the woods like a pair of wild animals with a small child in your midst.

Kagome still remembered when she had told the Thunder Brothers that they were lovers, she and Inuyasha, and how vehemently he had immediately denied her claim, not that she could really blame him, looking back on it now. After all, she'd only said it thinking that it would offer herself some small measure of protection, like 'You better not kill me or you'll be sorry.' How was she supposed to know that the opposite would actually be true? Not that he had denied her claim to protect her; he'd denied it because it wasn't _true_. They had hardly been lovers back then; they had hardly even liked each other at _all_ at that time. She'd thought he was a rude, selfish, childish jerk, while he'd thought she was a useless, powerless, clumsy bitch who'd stolen Kikyou's face. Not to mention the fact that she'd shattered the jewel, that he'dtried to _steal_ from her, before getting his face slammed into the ground thanks to Kaede's quick thinking. They had been enemies, to put it bluntly, forced to work together for the greater good, and it was the best thing that'd ever happened to either one of them.

If they had each been a little more open to the signs, then they probably could have realized their feelings for one another a lot sooner, but the past was in the past, Kagome supposed.

She could dwell on it forever, how he'd freaked out for a second there when he'd thought that she and Shippou were ghostly apparitions there to say goodbye, or how he'd told her she smelled nice during their first new moon together, when she'd let him rest his head on her lap. Then of course there was the time that he'd nearly kissed her when she'd accused him of hating her because she looked like Kikyou. Truth be told, they probably _would _have ended up getting together a lot earlier on if Kikyou hadn't been brought back to life, but Kagome was a firm believer in the concept of everything happening for a reason, even if that reason eluded you for a time.

Thinking about their past, she remembered that Inuyasha actually _had_ beenaware of her feelings for _him_. He'd confessed as much the night they got together, the hanyou not being anywhere near as stupid as he pretended to be while in the presence of others. But according to what he'd told her of his reasoning behind the act, he had thought, at that time, that he was doing the right thing by letting her believe that her feelings for him were one-sided. Now that they were finally together, exactly what he'd _feared _would happen, _had _happened. Kagome often had to remind herself that it, too, all happened for a reason, whatever _that_ was. Maybe it was just so she would finally grow up a little and gain a life lesson or two. She'd most certainly gotten over her previous misconception that the world as a whole was a kind and loving place. While she still insisted on believing in the good in people, it was clear that _most_ people, at least outwardly, behaved exactly how Inuyasha had predicted they'd behave. Though, Kagome also tried to tell herself that it wasn't really their fault. They weren't being cruel on purpose. Their hatred was driven by fear, after all, and living in the world that they lived in, Kagome couldn't really blame them for fearing youkai, either. If she started hating everybody else, simply because they hated her, then she would be no better than they were. She knew that, and despite it all, Inuyasha was relieved to see that his Kagome was still the same Kagome in spirit that he had fallen in love with. She hadn't been broken.

She loved him, and she would stand by him, no matter what. She'd been called a traitor, and a whore. She'd been spat on, and had things thrown at her, and each and every time that something happened, Inuyasha had been there to kiss away her tears. That alone made it bearable to her. There was no point in trying to claim that they were married, because nobody would ever believe them, and supposing that somebody actually _did_ believe their claims in that regard, they sure as hell didn't want to risk inadvertently getting Miroku in any trouble, if word ever got out regarding _which_ monk had supposedly betrayed his loyalty to the cloth by condoning such sacrilege.

Shaking her head free of such nonsense, Kagome tossed the remains of her fish into the fire, before rising to her feet and asking "Shall we?" in regard to continuing on their way.

"Keh."

Remains cleared away, and fire put out, Kagome swung her backpack over one shoulder and her quiver over the other – a shuffle that she'd learned to manage quite well over the years – before grabbing her bow and half leaping, half climbing onto Inuyasha's back. Tonight was the new moon, so they needed to cover as much ground as possible.


	2. Monster Mash

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

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Chapter 2 – Monster Mash

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Wanting to cover as much ground as possible, Kagome carried the burden of both her quiver and her backpack, while Inuyasha carried _her_, as they ran through the woods at top speed. There was no way they could make it back to Kaede's before nightfall, but they still wanted to travel as far as they could before being forced to stop for the night. Tonight was the new moon, which meant an entire night of remaining still, and they did have an appointment to meet in Kagome's time, after all. The 31st wasn't going to wait for them if they were running late. Fortunately, they _should _have plenty of time to get back, considering they had left for Kaede's a whole two days earlier than what Inuyasha had originally predicted as the deadline for when they _needed _to head back. But the extra time had been allotted for a reason. It seemed in recent months that everywhere they went, random youkai were after them for their jewel shards.

That day was no exception, as it would soon turn out.

They'd been running for maybe four hours before a gravelly voice declaring its desire for their jewel shards stopped them dead in their tracks. Well, it wasn't so much the _voice _that had stopped them, as it was the _thing _that said voice belonged to. With as hideous as the youkai already appeared on its own, Kagome didn't even want to think about what it would look like if it were actually to get a hold of their jewel shards. The best way to describe it was a cross between a bipedal salamander, and the melty-drippy mud guy from The Nightmare Before Christmas. It also smelled like how you'd imagine such a creature would likely smell, and Kagome immediately felt sorry for her husband and his sensitive nose.

The hanyou managed to deal with it, though, as he quickly lowered Kagome from his back, keeping her behind him for protection as he faced off against the creature.

"I would say I'd let you live if you let us pass, but I think killing you would put you out of your misery." he hissed, drawing his sword as the beast snapped its enormous jaws in their direction.

Using a demonic attack that could only be described as _disgusting_, the youkai somehow managed to harness the blobs of melting wax-like flesh upon its person, and Kagome couldn't help but to stare in fascination as the smaller droplets all gathered into its open palm, forming a perfect sphere. She snapped back into reality just as the youkai threw its flesh ball at her, Inuyasha currently in the air mid-swing with Tetsusaiga and unable to block the attack.

"Kagome! Look out!"

Acting on pure instinct, the miko swung her bow much like a baseball bat, successfully deflecting the youkai's attack while Inuyasha finished with the follow-through of his own.

For its size and general shape, the youkai was _fast_, easily dodging Tetsusaiga as it swung itself around, nearly smacking Inuyasha in the face with its tail before he too managed to dodge at just the last moment.

"Jeeeweeellll ssshhhhaaarrdssss" it managed to hiss again.

"I don't think so!" Inuyasha declared as he swung down with Tetsusaiga a second time.

The youki charged ball of guck that Kagome had sent hurling back in the youkai's direction proved harmless to the creature as it merely reabsorbed its own energy, but the arrow she had sent soaring along the same path moments afterward was another story. Distracted as the oni was with trying to dodge Inuyasha's attacks, it failed to notice Kagome's arrow until it was too late.

"Nooooooo!" it cried, as its body dissolved into sparkly dust.

Taken aback by his enemy suddenly disappearing before his very eyes, Inuyasha glared with faux anger at his grinning wife, as he bitterly declared, "I had him!"

Shrugging, Kagome said "Sorry" in a tone of voice that made it clear she wasn't really all that apologetic.

Huffing, Inuyasha kept up the pretence of being mad for another thirty seconds or so, before Kagome's smile finally called his bluff, and he grinned crookedly back at her in return. She had grown so much more powerful over the years. He was truly proud of her.

Two hours later, it actually took a combined attack of Wind Scar and her sacred arrow to take down the ginormous bear youkai that had already been in possession of a jewel shard. Just like the last time, Naraku's disappearance once again meant that all of the lesser youkai were crawling out of the woodwork, only this time, the dark hanyou was not merely biding his time behind the safety of a holy barrier.

And speaking of barriers, Kagome was starting to get rather concerned regarding the upcoming moonless night. While Inuyasha might posture and claim that he didn't need her protection, she knew otherwise, and deep down inside, so did he. There weren't any villages nearby, so they had no choice but to stay in the wilderness that night. It would be the first time they were truly on their own during the new moon, but Kagome was not quite as helpless as she used to be, and had already formulated a game plan. It would be hard on her to create a barrier that could last all night long, but not impossible. She had been practicing with both Kaede and Miroku on the subject for months, having decided that she needed all the training she could get to be at her absolute strongest while she and Inuyasha were traveling alone together, just the two of them. It would make it a lot easier on her, though, if she only had to concentrate on a straight wall rather than a rounded dome, and so after some mild arguing, and threats of a sexual nature – or rather, the _lack _thereof – it was with a rather undignified surrender that Inuyasha headed towards the nearby mountains, concentrating on finding them a suitable cave for the night.

Setting up an hour before sunset, Inuyasha worked on building themselves a small fire, while Kagome focused on creating a protective barrier across the entrance of the cave. Ever since her spiritual powers had reawakened at the fall of Naraku, it was as if the original, weaker seal she'd been born with had also been lifted from her aura, as she was much more powerful now than she had ever been before. Pulling out several _real _sealing sutra, Kagome concentrated first with the prayer that Miroku had taught her, as she charged each of the sutra individually. Then, she grabbed her arrows, and stabbed one through each sutra before then jamming the arrows into the dirt and rock face of the cave entrance. She then closed her eyes once more, concentrating on a prayer that Kaede had taught her, to use her arrows as amplifiers for the power of the sutra attached to them. It was exhausting, but well worth it. Opening her eyes, Kagome was certain that it had worked, although she unfortunately had no way of really testing it.

Or at least that's what she'd thought.

"Inuyasha!"

The hanyou in question, knowing full well what to expect if she had done it right, reached forward without any visible hesitation, and was instantly thrown back on his ass with second degree burns on his hand.

"Damn, woman, I'm staying on your good side." he chuckled in amusement, hissing under his breath at the pain in his fingers and palm.

The burns would heal in about half an hour or so, so they'd be gone before sunset. Still, that didn't mean that Kagome was about to let him suffer through the pain until then. Her weariness instantly forgotten, she opened her bag and pulled out some cooling ointment and gauze, while gesturing for him to stick out his injured hand.

Reluctantly, he complied, voicing his opinion regarding her 'wasting' their supplies on him, even though deep down, he actually appreciated the attention. It wasn't so much that he ever truly needed her to treat his injuries, because he _would _heal on his own just fine, but the simple fact that she _wanted _to treat his injuries meant more to him than even he had realized back at the beginning. Back when they'd _first_ been hunting the jewel shards, as well as Naraku, Inuyasha had thought that her fussing over him like she always did was annoying and pointless. He'd thought that the girl was stupid for not comprehending the fact that fussing over some minor scratches here and there simply wasn't necessary. It hadn't been until after Miroku had oh-so-tactfully pointed out the fact that he should be thankful that Kagome even cared enough to treat the wounds of a hanyou at all – the monk hadn't been with their group for very long at that time and hadn't yet known that Kagome wasn't from their world – that it had suddenly dawned on Inuyasha what the houshi had actually been getting at. Kagome _had _known that she didn't have to treat his wounds, but she had _wanted _to, anyway. Her lack of prejudice due to being from the future aside, she'd wanted to _help _him, to make him feel more _comfortable_ until he healed. Even though he'd still put up a fuss, for appearance's sake, he'd secretly always appreciated her care of him after that little revelation.

Nobody else had ever bothered to show such care for him before, not since his mother's death. Maybe Kikyou would have willingly treated his battle wounds, if he had let her, but unlike Kagome, Kikyou simply hadn't put up a fight when he'd dismissed the significance of his injuries. Kagome never took 'no' for an answer, and he loved her for it. Yes, her blatant disregard for his own opinion when it came to making sure he was properly cared for was one of the things that had made him fall so deeply in love with her back in the beginning. It was one of the things that had proved to him just how deeply she'd loved _him_.

Now that they were married, he hardly put on much of an act at all any more. He did voice his opinion in this instance that it was foolish of her to waste her gauze like that, in case they needed it for something more serious later on, but she merely pointed out that they were already heading back to her time, anyway, and so she could easily restock their medical supplies while they were there.

"I can't very well just leave you to suffer with those burns. It's my fault." she whispered, applying the much appreciated aloe to his reddened skin.

"Feh." he scoffed. "It's hardly your fault. I'm the one who touched the barrier."

"Yes, you did." she agreed, planting a tender kiss to the gauze-covered palm of his hand. "You deliberately risked inflicting yourself with pain and injury to make sure the barrier was working, to ensure our safety. Thank you."

Inuyasha smiled at her words, a mild blush staining his cheeks. He was so used to her chastising his rash actions, and calling him stupid – even though he knew she didn't _really _mean it – that it always surprised and embarrassed him whenever she expressed her deeper understanding, recognizing his actions for exactly what they were as she expressed her genuine gratitude for his effort.

"Keh."

Caught up in his own thoughts for the moment, he missed it, at first, when her kisses started traveling up his wrist, then his arm, until he suddenly felt her brush back his sleeve in order to reach more skin.

"Kagome…?"

"Hmmm?"

Catching her face delicately with his other hand, Inuyasha held his fingers gently against her chin, turning her gaze to meet his own. She looked at him in that moment with nothing but pure, unadulterated love. The rapidly falling shadows cast their eastern facing cave in a blanket of darkening twilight, the flickering dance of their small campfire reflecting itself in each other's eyes, as they gazed across at one another.

Then the sun completed its descent.

Kagome felt more than saw the pulse of energy that rushed through him, as his youkai blood quickly switched 'off' into hibernation mode. It was magical to watch, and she was grateful to learn that the experience did not cause him physical pain, despite its appearance. She had braved asking him once, and he had assured her that while it felt 'weird' it didn't actually hurt. The miko watched, unblinkingly, as her husband's white hair became enveloped in waves of cascading black, as if someone had poured a bottle of ink on his head. His claws and fangs shrank in that same moment, retracting into his body, while at the same time losing the deadly sharpness they'd once possessed, becoming nothing more than blunted human nails and teeth. Of course, his ears always fascinated her the most. Kagome watched, still as a statue, as they slowly morphed in shape while simultaneously crawling down the sides of his head. It all happened so fast that she knew if she blinked,  
>she could miss something. One minute he was his normal, hanyou self, and the next, he was completely human, sitting before her with the same look of love still blazing in his now coffee colored orbs.<p>

Without saying a word, the hanyou-turned-human leaned forward, capturing her lips with his own. His emotions were always so much stronger during his human night, and while Inuyasha used to loath that about himself, he had since learned to accept and cherish the times when he could fully let his love for the woman before him soar with all the power of his human heart.

Even so, would you believe that in the entire year they'd been together, they had not yet made love during his human night?

During the first five months they had been together, they had still been traveling as a group, still hunting Naraku, and the opportunity to be together _at all _had rarely presented itself. They had scampered off for a quickie on several occasions, relying on Inuyasha's demonic senses to inform them when the coast was clear, but during his nights of vulnerability they had all stayed close together at camp, playing cards or telling stories, or anything else they could think of to help themselves stay awake. It had become a tradition among the inu-tachi that his pack return the favor of his constant protection by protecting _him _during his human night, and though it had taken him a little while to get used to the idea, he had eventually learned to accept the fact that he actually had friends…something that he never used to think he'd ever have in a million years.

Then, after Naraku had finally been defeated, and Miroku and Sango had decided to settle into Kaede's village, Kagome and Inuyasha had strived to return to Kaede's village as well during his human nights, not wanting to spend them alone in the forest just the two of them for very real and obvious security reasons. That of course had meant that they still hadn't been alone on those nights, sharing the small hut with everybody else, though it had also meant that they could at least get some much-deserved _sleep, _for once. Inuyasha felt safe in Kaede's village, and he also rejoiced in the fact that he could at least hold Kagome while they slept, knowing that nobody would say anything derogatory about it.

On a couple of occasions, they had even passed through the well for the moonless night, enjoying a night alone in Kagome's bedroom instead, although they still hadn't dared to do anything _too_ extravagant while her family had been asleep in the same house. They were both quite the screamers while in the throws of passion, and that would have been beyond embarrassing the following morning. But thanks to their privacy and his unhindered human emotions, they had learned more about each other than they'd ever thought they'd know during those two moonless nights spent in her time. Stupid little things, everyday things about their respective pasts that they wanted to share which each other simply for the sake of sharing. Kagome had told him stories from her childhood, and amazingly enough, he had returned the favor. He hadn't wanted to keep anything about himself a secret from her any longer; he loved her.

Then there had been the _one_ time, back when Kagome had still been wearing simple yukata rather than the robes of a miko, that they had found themselves too far out to make it back to Kaede's village in time, and so they had ended up staying in some random village during his human night. They had both agreed that it would be the lesser of two evils, knowing that staying in the village would undoubtedly be safer than being completely alone out in the woods without the added protection that Miroku, Sango, and even Kirara had always provided in the past. Even Shippou, as useless as he usually was in battle, had provided a set of demonic ears for things that went bump in the night. It had been before Kagome had learned how to make her protective barriers, and so they would've been virtually defenseless, aside from her arrows, had they decided to remain in the woods just the two of them on that night. Having waited until after dark to make their approach, they had been tremendously relieved when they had received a normal, warm greeting by the local villagers. Because Kagome had been dressed appropriately enough for the role, they had decided to tell the Inn Keeper the truth in that they were husband and wife, and they had received no hassles with acquiring a single room to stay in for the night. Still, they hadn't _dared _do anything while in such a dangerous setting. Besides the fact that the walls were literallypaper thin, and they had _definitely _not wanted any strangers to overhear them going at it, there had also been the very real possibility that a youkai might have been drawn to their position during the night because of Kagome's jewel shards. They'd also known that they couldn't risk exhausting themselves and end up accidentally falling asleep. Inuyasha still couldn't believe that he had actually fallen asleep after their first time together, and when he had been _hanyou_, no less. No, they most certainly couldn't have risked that when they'd known that they'd _had_ to be out of there before dawn the following morning.

Fortunately, their night in the village had at least been a peaceful one, as no random youkai had shown up to disrupt the tranquility of the Inn, and the following morning, they had successfully snuck out before dawn, leaving only confused humans in their wake when their empty room was discovered two hours later, leaving the Inn Keeper and his wife to wonder why their patrons had failed to stay for breakfast. They had wondered if perhaps the young couple had not truly been married after all, and had merely been seeking some place private to get away for a few hours during the night for an improper tryst before needing to return to their respective lives come morning. Little did they know that virtually the opposite was true, as Kagome and Inuyasha _were _rightfully married, and they would also never deliberately seek out the 'privacy' of a village Inn were they merely in need of a place to express their love. To do so would not only be foolish, but extremely dangerous. _Especially_ after her change in wardrobe, which had taken place not long after their moonless night at the Inn.

While staying in random villages with him in his hanyou form had become less of an issue after Kagome began wearing the robes of a miko, as people began seeing her as his captor instead of his whore, they most certainly could _not_ attempt anything of a romantic nature, even if they hypothetically once again got a room for his human night. Not while Kagome was seen as a priestess by the local villagers. Loving a miko was simply off-limits, even for a human man.

A _hanyou _loving a miko was punishable by death. They'd learned _that _lesson the hard way, too.

What a horrible lesson it had been.

Now, they weren't stupid, and they had certainly known never to try anything too frisky while in the company of others, but they hadn't thought, at least at first, that simply sleeping in one another's arms would have caused any harm. They had been as quiet as a mouse. How were they supposed to have known that the Inn Keeper would decide to stick his nosey head into their room in the middle of the night? Whatever happened to respecting a miko's privacy? But apparently that right was null and void, considering 'what' she had already been sharing a room with. They never did find out if the man had actually suspected them all along, or if he had merely wished to make sure the miko was all right, only to be horrified beyond words at his discovery. After all, even though they had merely been sleeping, and had been fully clothed, only lovers held each other that tenderly as they slept. They'd fled _that_ village at top speed with flaming torches and words like 'dark miko' and 'youkai's whore' following in their wake.

After all, if Kagome was bedding with a hanyou, then she _had _to be a dark miko, right? Miko were supposed to remain pure, both in body and soul. Or at least that's what everyone else seemed to believe, despite the fact that Kaede, who was clearly aware of their relationship as well, had never once said a single thing about their coupling in a negative fashion. She had actually congratulated them, stating how she had been able to tell that they'd been in love with each other for quite some time, and how she was glad that they had finally decided to act on their feelings. But Inuyasha figured that Kaede had a rather unique perspective regarding the whole thing, all things considered, and her meaning had not been lost on him when she'd expressed how she believed that he and Kagome had been destined for each other.

Just like it seemed as though they were destined to find this cave for the night, he mused, even as he continued to brush his tongue delicately against her own, mentally cataloging the alteration in her taste due to his weakened sense of smell.

Kagome, for her part, couldn't quite shake the odd feel of his mouth on hers without his fangs. It was like she was kissing somebody else entirely. But when she gazed deeply into those darkened eyes of his, they didn't seem strange to her in the slightest. Yes, they were a different color, but the eyes truly were the windows to the soul, and the soul she could see gazing back at her from those chocolate depths was the same soul she had fallen in love with so long ago. Wrapping her arms up and around his neck, she held him to her tightly as she explored his fang-less mouth with her eager tongue, instantly noticing the more docile approach he adopted in his attempt to dominate her with his own.

Slowly, Inuyasha reached up with his right hand, his burns having since healed, and cupped her delicate breast through the fabric of her chihaya. Kagome leaned into the touch, relieved to learn that while he may be a bit gentler on his human nights, he didn't lose any of his brazen confidence.

Reluctantly pulling herself away after a moment, the miko was quick to squash the sudden look of confused hurt that momentarily splashed itself across her husband's face, as his eyes widened in realization upon seeing her unrolling her sleeping bag.

"Kagome…" he moaned, his voice suddenly so husky with desire that it almost sounded like his normal hanyou voice with its intensity.

"Come here and lay down." she instructed softly, understanding how her husband lacked his usual animal aggressions at the moment. He couldn't help it. It was a natural side effect of becoming human.

Obeying her command with a curious smirk on his face, he lied down before her on top of her sleeping roll, eager to discover what it was she had in mind.

He was not disappointed.

Slowly, tenderly, Kagome planted loving kisses upon his forehead, nose, mouth and chin, before lowing herself even further, suckling on his throat at his pulse-point. He shuddered below her in anticipation as her hands began deftly unfastening the ties on his suikan and kosode, pulling both robes open in a desire to reach more skin. The sudden chill of the night air against his heated flesh was short lived as she draped herself across him, straddling his legs as she delicately ran her tongue along his chest, teasing his nipples until they became as stiff and aroused as something else she could feel throbbing below her belly.

"I can't believe we've never done this before." she cooed, even as she continued to sprinkle his chest and tummy with kisses. He was pretty sure she was referring to his human night, although he had never before found himself in the submissive potion below her, either, until now.

"No time like the present." he hissed through his pleasure, in an adaptation of the motto they had been living by for an entire year.

Her only response was an approving moan, as she writhed her lower half back and forth against him, while continuing to suckle on the exposed skin of his torso. Shimmying herself even lower along his body, she straddled his shins, as she started lazily working loose the ties of his hakama. She was in no hurry…they had _all _night, after all.

Inuyasha growled in anticipation the best his human vocal cords would allow as he stared down at her with fire in his eyes. There was nothing quite as erotic as the sight of his Kagome sitting on his legs, working to untie his pants. Yes, _his _Kagome. Sometimes, he still called her his mate, even if that term was casual at best. More often than not, he referred to her as his wife, as that title was simply fact, and his human half felt pride in the declaration. But, if there was _one _word he had to pick with which to describe his woman the most accurately, it would simply be 'Kagome'. That single word stirred more emotions within him, even while hanyou, than he'd care to admit to anyone, except to Kagome herself, of course. He always made sure that _she _knew exactly what she did to him. The fact that she was dressed like a miko did nothing to hinder the exotic image of her sexuality in his mind. He had gotten so used to seeing her in that outfit over the past few months that it was simply clothing to him by that point. He knew the woman underneath all those clothes, both physically and mentally, and while Kagome could represent the epitome of the perfect miko when it came to say, treating the sick or injured, she simply disagreed with the notion that in order to be pure of heart, one must also remain pure in flesh. According to her, expressing physical love was the purest of acts that any two people who truly cared for each other could partake in. He wasn't about to argue with her on that point, either.

Especially not now.

Having successfully untied the knots on his hakama, she folded the front flap downward, exposing his fundoshi. His straining, tented, filled to capacity fundoshi. She licked her lips, and his eyes bugged in instant understanding. His flesh was always so much more sensitive during his human nights. Usually, that was a bad thing, because it meant he could feel pain much more intensely. But, during blessed moments like these…

Unconsciously, he raised his hips as he felt her attempting to slide his fundoshi down, assisting her with exposing his throbbing lust to her eager eyes. He was nearly just as large in his human form, still well beyond what would be considered average for a Japanese male. His pubic hairs, as would be expected, had also turned to black for the time being, but Kagome found the sight of him no less appealing than on any other night.

Feeling her wrap her delicate hands around his sensitive flesh, the hanyou-turned-human closed his eyes and hissed in pleasure, concentrating on anything abstract he could bring to mind in a desperate attempt to not lose himself too quickly. It felt absolutely incredible, beyond his wildest dreams, to simply have her touching him like that. He still remembered the first time she'd ever done so, and how surprised he had been at the simple difference that somebody else's hand could make. For the longest time Inuyasha had remained in stunned disbelief that there actually _was _a 'somebody else' to touch him in such a manner. Never in his life had he ever dared to truly hope that he would one day find himself a companion as he had now. He had known, or rather, he had _thought_, that the life of a hanyou was one of solitude. Sometimes he still found it hard to believe that the last year of his life wasn't actually just some sort of elaborate dream, which he would one day, regretfully, awake from. But no, daring to glance down the length of his body in that moment, Inuyasha assured himself that it wasn't a dream. _Kagome _wasn't a dream. She was real, she was his mate, his wife, his lover, and she was touching him. It felt even more amazing than usual, under the circumstances, and he was loving every minute of it. The increase in pleasure he was already experiencing due to his human transformation was made even more dramatic by the tidal wave of human emotions currently washing over him, and for once in his life he didn't fight the mental onslaught. He embraced it.

Much like she was embracing him.

_Good gods_…

A gasp of pleasure was ripped from his throat so forcefully that it echoed throughout the entire cave at the sudden feel of her taking him fully into her mouth. While she had done that for him a few times before, he had always been standing, usually leaning up against a tree, with her on her knees before him. Never before had he been lying so exposed before her, helpless on his back. Never before had he felt as though _he _were the one submitting to _her _during the act.

She was slow, torturously so, as she relished in watching him writhe below her in pained pleasure. So much, too much, and yet not nearly enough, and she knew that. His head thrashed back and forth seemingly of its own accord, as his breath came in shallow gasps and pants, as she slowly but surely began pumping him in a more recognizable rhythm. He cried out when she scraped him gently with her teeth, and his hips bucked forward when she danced her tongue around his heated flesh in lazy circles.

Finally, it was the faintest, pained whisper of "St-stop..." that barely reached her ears, that let her know that her temporarily human husband had taken all he could endure.

Uttering the command for her to cease her actions had been the single toughest thing he'd ever had to do in his entire life. Screw that 'morning after' talk with her mother. That had been _nothing _compared to the painful protesting his body was cursing him with for having stopped Kagome's wonderful torture in that moment. But he knew she'd understand why he had uttered the command, and somehow managing to get his eyes to obey the signal to open in that moment, Inuyasha was pleased to find her already on the verge of becoming quite naked. He wouldn't question how she had mastered getting in and out of those miko robes so damn quickly; it was one of her _many_ wonderful talents.

Sitting up, he slipped his own open robes down his arms, removing them fully, before kicking away his hakama and fundoshi, until he too was completely bare before her. Despite the fact that he was currently human, Inuyasha found that it was suddenly rather warm in their small cave; especially with the heated gaze Kagome was sending his way. He was just about to get up, but his wife crawling forward and delicately placing a hand on his chest immediately let Inuyasha know that she wanted him right where he was, lying flat on his back. Ordinarily, his youkai half would never settle for being dominated by her in such a fashion, but he supposed she already knew that, which was probably why she had never even attempted such a position, until now.

Being the human man that he currently was, he merely smiled lovingly at the sight of her crawling over him, her breasts dangling in front of his face. Licking his lips, he tilted his head forward and captured one of her hardened nipples between his teeth. She hissed in pleasure, but reluctantly pulled away, as she sat herself fully upright, positioning herself over his manhood.

"Kagome…" he groaned, and it was neither a command for her to stop, nor permission for her to continue. It was simply an exclamation of his love for her, and she understood that, returning the gesture when she leaned forward over him once more, whispering "Inuyasha…" before reaching down between themselves to guide his body within her own.

He had to close his eyes against the sensation of her heat enveloping him. It was a weird sensation, for his body to be receiving such signals of pleasurable mating, while lying motionless on his back, putting forth none of the effort. Part of him actually felt a little guilty, simply laying there, letting her pleasure him, letting _her _do all the work. He tried to move his hips, but she stopped him, clearly indicating that she _wanted _to be the one in control, at least this once.

As she slowly began rising and lowering herself in a steady rhythm, Kagome found that she couldn't tear her eyes away from his face. Though she couldn't see all too well, the low light from their small fire provided her eyes with enough illumination to clearly make out his strained expression, from the unbearable pleasure that she was currently putting him through. He was already close, thanks to her earlier attentions, and so it wasn't long at all before his breathing once again began coming in shallower pants. That was her cue to stop moving altogether.

Snapping his eyes open, Inuyasha gazed up at his wife's teasing smirk in disbelief.

"You bitch…" he panted in amusement, his strangled laughter somewhat softening the blow of the insult.

Kagome laughed above him, causing his eyes to roll back in his head from the sensation of her inner muscles gripping him so tightly. Looking down over himself, he experienced another wave of arousal at observing the sight of his body disappearing into her own. Suddenly, he had the best idea, as he fumbled with his hands to remove the no longer needed gauze still covering the fingers on his right. Pulling the bandages free, he smirked at his clawless digits, before promptly reaching forward and brushing them against her body where they were joined.

Kagome stilled above him for an entirely different reason when she suddenly registered the sensation of his thumb repeatedly rubbing against her sensitive nerves. He had never touched her like that before, and for obvious reasons. Ten lethally sharp reasons, to be exact. He'd occasionally brushed her with his knuckles, a tease more than anything else, simply to enlist the occasional gasp from her, but nothing like this. Regaining her composure, Kagome managed to keep herself moving over him, even as wave after wave of pleasure washed through her own body at his continued ministrations.

He was close. He was _beyond _close. He was dangling over the edge, his feet standing on nothing, as the tree branch he clung to from above cracked and strained from the weight of supporting him. Still, he refused to fall. He refused to plummet into those depths, without at least bringing her with him. Gripping her right hip firmly with his left hand, Inuyasha knew that for once, he didn't need to fear accidentally piercing her flesh with his claws as he held her tightly, restricting her motion. Stop moving, damn it! Frantically, he rubbed her, and he could feel her entire body shuddering above him. Her own breathing rapidly became more shallow, and her eyes pinched shut.

Suddenly, it happened. She cried out above him, her inner muscles tightening around his shaft to the point of insanity. That sensation alone was nearly enough to do him in, but he somehow managed to muscle up enough strength to lift and lower her with his left hand on her hip, his right hand still preoccupied below. If she experienced any discomfort from him gripping her one side so tightly, she didn't show it, and it was only two trips up and down before he felt his own explosion roar through him at breakneck speed. He howled so loudly that it was a wonder he didn't trigger a cave-in, and at the sound, Kagome couldn't help but to silently muse that apparently not _all _of his inu instincts left him during his human night, after all.

Collapsing on top of him, they both laid motionless for a few minutes, each of them concentrating on regulating their breathing.

"That…that was…" Inuyasha eventually tried to pant out, though his wife completed his thought for him.

"Incredible." she gasped, and he could only nod in agreement below her.

...o...o...

"What about the time you drank all that sake from Yakurou Doukusen's jar? You got pretty drunk for a minute there, yourself."

"I was not drunk!"

"Then why were there three of me _then_, hmmm?"

Still thinking it best to stay awake throughout the remainder of the night, after Kagome and Inuyasha got dressed, they snuggled together inside her sleeping bag, reminiscing on the more amusing moments of their original journey together. Inuyasha had just finished thoroughly humiliating his wife with the reminder of how she'd acted when she'd gotten herself drunk off the mists of Mt. Kasumidake, when they'd gone in search of the legendary sake Miroku's master Mushin had requested they fetch for him. There _had _been three of her, then, with an equally drunk Shippou and Hachi making up the other two busy-tailed members of the Kagome Triplets.

Still, the miko wasn't above payback, and their brief time spent with that youkai sage while Sango had been getting Hiraikotsu repaired had immediately come to mind. At the time, Inuyasha had of course insisted that he wasn't drunk, but had then turned around and proceeded to ask her why there were two, and then later even _three _of her. But he hadn't been drunk. Of course not. How foolish of her to have presumed otherwise.

"Okay fine…" he finally relented, causing her to do a little mental happy dance at being proven right. "But it wasn't as if I'd drank any of that sake on purpose. That stupid old sage just threw me in the jar!"

She'd meet him halfway on that one.

"That's true, you're right about that."

"Feh, 'course I'm right."

The miko couldn't help but to smile at that, so she was taken completely by surprise when she turned back his way after a moment, only to suddenly discover how somber her husband had unexplainably become.

"What's wrong?" she asked right away, concern and confusion both present in her voice. What could have possibly changed his mood so quickly?

"We came so close to losing him." Inuyasha mumbled under his breath, and Kagome immediately realized that he was talking about Miroku.

She and Sango had eventually been made aware of the health condition that had been plaguing their friend and traveling companion for the later portion of their journey. While Kagome knew that she couldn't blame Inuyasha for keeping Miroku's condition a secret, as she definitely understood how strongly he valued the honor of keeping a promise, the miko had still been a little hurt, at least at first, to realize that Miroku had actually wanted to keep something as important as his health a secret from her and Sango in the first place. Of course, it hadn't taken Kagome all that long to realize the same thing that Miroku had understood back then, that if Sango had realized just how weak he had truly become, she wouldn't have hesitated to protect his life with her own. She'd done it before, at Mt. Hakurei, and the houshi hadn't wanted to bear the thought of her actually dying on his behalf.

He needed to be the one to protect _her_, and he had done so a few times since that day, still using the wind tunnel on a few rare occasions, though only when absolutely necessary. He had done good to keep his promise to Inuyasha of not using it in vain. He had truly only resorted to using his curse whenever he'd felt that there had been no other options. Kagome couldn't really blame Miroku for his decision, if she were to be fully honest with herself. It was only the part about keeping it a secret that had bothered her. But if she had found herself faced with a similar situation, she would have chosen to drink the poison too. She knew she would've. If it would have meant feeling no pain, and being able to aid her friends in battle, you better believe it.

And Miroku's wind tunnel had proven necessary in the end, just like Sango's Hiraikotsu, Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga, and her own sacred arrows. Even Sesshoumaru had played his part in the dark hanyou's destruction, and they could _never_ forget about Kohaku's sacrifice. It had truly been a group effort, on everyone's part.

**~~~Flashback~~~**

(AN: I originally wrote this battle scene prior to the translated release of manga chapter 526. Although the manga has since been completed, 33 chapters later, I have decided not to alter what I'd already written back when chapter 525 had still been the latest installment. I like the way this turned out, just the way it is. So this battle takes place during and directly after chapter 525, as if the events of chapter 526 and beyond never happened. None of the events after manga chapter 525 exist in the universe of this story.)

"Wake up! Fight, Kohaku!"

Desperate to reach the soul of her brother that she knew was still locked away in there, somewhere, Sango faced off against Magatsuhi, who in turn only laughed that her effort was useless, until of course the boy suddenly regained consciousness. Kohaku was quick to make up his mind regarding what course of action there was left for him to take, though Magatsuhi merely taunted the boy that even if his body was smashed upon the rocks below, he would still control the portion of his corpse that contained the jewel shard.

In the mean time, Kagome had noticed something _very _important regarding said shard, which was now the one and only shard keeping Naraku from completing the entire jewel. The tiniest hint of Kikyou's pure light was present within Kohaku's shard, having been transferred from Naraku's jewel, which enabled the boy to resist Magatsuhi's power over him, but more than that, it meant that there was still a chance. There was still time. There was still hope.

Magatsuhi was the physical manifestation of the sacred jewel's evil, itself. The jewel's purity, namely Midoriko's soul, was all but completely overpowered by that point. Kikyou had borrowed a portion of Midoriko's soul for a time, back when she'd needed the ancient warrior-miko's strength in order to continue to fight against Naraku's miasma, and as a result, their souls had formed a sort of bond, if you will. While the borrowed portion of Kagome's soul had never returned to her upon Kikyou's death, their souls were in truth still one in the same. Kagome could just as easily sense Kikyou's essence within Kohaku's jewel shard as she could sense her own existence on the Earth. She also had a unique connection to the Sacred Jewel to begin with, having been born with the jewel within her body, and as such, she could almost feel the soul of Midoriko herself, crying out to be saved from such agonizing evil.

With Magatsuhi's seal over her own miko powers still in effect, Kagome didn't know what she could accomplish, but she still had to try.

It was at that moment that everything seemed to happen all at once. Kohaku let go, fully prepared to plummet to his own death, knowing that neither Inuyasha nor his sister would let Magatsuhi stake claim on his jewel shard. Kagome prayed that she could somehow lend her strength to Kikyou's power within the shard, knowing that the evil force that was Magatsuhi was in truth only half of what the Sacred Jewel consisted of. Everyone watched in relief as Magatsuhi was somehow forced out of Kohaku's body, apparently by the force of his purifying shard, but then before Sango could catch her brother atop Kirara, Naraku shot out one of his tentacles, snatching the boy mid-air by his leg.

Inuyasha immediately broke away to engage the dark hanyou in battle, then, hoping to get rid of him once and for all with a quick strike of his newly acquired Meidou Zangetsuha. For a second there, he thought he'd been successful, but Kagome, whose powers apparently weren't as sealed as she'd thought they were, instantly realized that she could still sense the evil that was Naraku's corrupted jewel, and warned Inuyasha that the dark hanyou still existed. He barely dodged the tentacle that had come shooting out of the rock face behind him no sooner than she'd said that, and he and Sango continued to face off against the pieces of Naraku that held Kohaku captive, while the spirit of Magatsuhi watched amusedly from the sky above.

Magatsuhi dared to smirk that they had lost, but it was at that moment that Sesshoumaru arrived on the scene wielding Tenseiga, the only sword in existence that could cut the evil spirit that was Magatsuhi, being a sword of Heaven.

While Sesshoumaru took on Magatsuhi himself, Inuyasha continued to face off against Naraku, while Sango attempted to free Kohaku, despite the pain of her earlier injuries. They had to win, they had to defeat Naraku; it was the only way to save Miroku's life.

Kagome suddenly realized in that moment that she was in truth still a miko, as she could feel the speck of purity within Kohaku's shard pulsing in time with her own heartbeat. Magatsuhi might have sealed her powers, for the most part, but they were still there. If she could break other spells that had been cast over herself throughout their journey, then she could break his hold over her as well, she told herself in that moment. Her powers couldn't be blocked completely, after all, if she could still sense the presence of Kikyou's light within the jewel. She suddenly had a flashback to Kanna's last words, when upon the void-youkai's death, she had told her in a vision that the light would kill Naraku.

_That's right, Naraku couldn't touch Kohaku's shard, because it caused the light within the jewel to spread_._ But Magatsuhi corrupted Kohaku's shard…he said that when his shard rejoined with Naraku's jewel, the point of light left by Kikyou would be engulfed_.

Glancing across at the battle before her, Kagome saw Sango successfully slice away Naraku's tentacles with her newly strengthened Hiraikotsu, the spirits of the youkai within her weapon having agreed to fight by her side until the very end. Kohaku landed behind her on Kirara, and the two taijiya were quick to escape the path of destruction as Inuyasha released a Diamond Spear Blast in Naraku's direction.

There was no way Kagome could miss the speck of light that shined through the darkness within Kohaku's shard.

_Hmph, Kikyou's spell isn't working? That's what you think, Magatsuhi_._ You haven't won yet after all!_

Naraku, having finally revealed himself in his entirety, appeared floating before them all, his mostly humanoid body protected by a powerful barrier. Inuyasha's adamant barrage could pass through Naraku's barrier, but that did little against the dark hanyou when he merely sacrificed insignificant pieces of himself as physical shields against Inuyasha's attack.

Magatsuhi, meanwhile, was being significantly weakened in his battle with Sesshoumaru. The daiyoukai was not without his own battle wounds, but he continued to fight regardless of the corrosive damage his body was enduring. He was a powerful daiyoukai. He would heal. Magatsuhi would not be quite as fortunate.

Sensing that he would inevitably lose his battle with the daiyoukai, in a desperate attempt to save himself Magatsuhi fled back within the confines of Naraku's jewel, his physical embodiment instantly disappearing and thus ensuring his safety from Tenseiga's blade. Naraku was not pleased with that turn of events, however, as it simply made himself a greater target.

"Magatsuhi, you coward." he hissed, but Magatsuhi was not one of his creations, and he could not order the dark spirit of the jewel to do his bidding.

In the same moment that Magatsuhi's form disappeared within the jewel, Kohaku held his head as though he were in pain, the corruption in his shard pulsing in time with the speck of light, as though the two forces were battling one another, as Naraku attempted to gain control over Kohaku's body, while Kikyou's light prevented him from doing so. Kagome had never felt anything like it. Kohaku's shard was nearly completely black, but yet, the boy's mind was still his own. Suddenly, it was as though Kohaku had just realized something, as his face adopted a look of peaceful acceptance.

"What's the matter, Naraku?" he taunted from his place on Kirara's back. He had his own vengeance to seek against the dark hanyou, and had stopped crying tears of blood a long time ago. His soul would not be broken. He knew what had to be done. "Has your puppet's strings been cut? You will never bear full control of the jewel so long as it remains incomplete!" he cried.

"Kohaku!" Sango shouted, wishing to protect her brother's life at all costs. What was he hoping to accomplish by goading Naraku like that? The dark hanyou already desired his shard; he didn't need to go making it even worse!

But Kagome had realized the same thing Kohaku had, having felt the same revelation within her own heart, and regrettably, she too knew that it was the only way. When Kohaku's eyes met her own, she nodded, to let him know that she understood. Kikyou's light still existed, which meant that with it, there was still a chance to purify the rest of the jewel.

Magatsuhi, meanwhile, continued to seek the completion of the jewel himself, ignorant to the true power of Kikyou's purity. The jewel was nearly complete. _He _was nearly complete. He needed to be whole, and then they would know true fear. Even that insignificant Naraku was merely a tool he used to strengthen his own evil, as the dark hanyou had unconsciously done his bidding for years, tainting the jewel as black as could be, until finally he had been strong enough to escape as the specter they had seen. _He _was the true villain. He was the embodiment of evil, itself. Naraku thought he was in control? That man was nothing but a fool.

A being such as Magatsuhi could never be permitted to succeed, or all truly would be lost. Kagome suddenly recalled what that daiyoukai Hosenki had said so long ago, when they had followed Naraku to the Inu no Taisho's grave, seeking what had then been the final unclaimed shard. The late jewel-youkai had revealed that the Shikon shard had actually told him it wished to accompany him into the afterlife, so that the Shikon no Tama could never again be completed. It had been that shard's desire that the jewel remain in pieces. Kagome now understood. That shard had been pure, and so therefore it had been the pure will of Midoriko's spirit that had wished to prevent what she could sense, even then, that Magatsuhi had planned.

But that was before, before Kikyou had joined her soul with Midoriko's, leaving a spark of her own light within the jewel. Midoriko now knew what Kikyou had understood so early on, that the only way to defeat Naraku was to allow him to complete the entire jewel, thus destroying his evil from the inside out. Midoriko had come to understand this long ago, which was why she had interfered with Kouga's jewel shards, freezing his legs so that Naraku could capture him. It was fortunate that the wolf's life had been spared in the end. The jewel needed to be completed now; it was the only way to defeat the dark hanyou, or the even more threatening force of evil that was the jewel itself. Kagome recalled Kikyou's final words, as the dying miko had suddenly placed everything in her own hands, back on that fateful afternoon.

"_Kagome…the rest is up to you_._"_

For a long time Kagome had felt guilty over failing to save Kikyou that day, until she finally understood that Kikyou had never intended for her to save her body. It was Kikyou's soul that her young reincarnation had saved, by purifying Naraku's evil. Miko who had died, and were then reborn under the control of evil, were supposed to suffer in Hell for all eternity. Kagome had learned that during her battle with Hitomiko. She truly had saved Kikyou on that day, after all, just as she had managed to save the spirit of Hitomiko from Naraku's influence, as well.

Then Kagome remembered Hitomiko's parting words, regarding how she considered her a mystery, because she had failed to sense any spiritual powers in her, as though her true powers were being sealed. Kagome had thought, at the time, that the one sealing her powers had been Kikyou, but now she knew that it had been Magatsuhi all along. Apparently, his first seal hadn't been as effective as he'd hoped, but he'd since rectified the situation.

_Kikyou told me to protect the final shard, protect Kohaku's light_..._ But how can I do that when Magatsuhi has strengthened his seal over my powers? _

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru continued to face off against Naraku, but he wasn't the one they truly needed to defeat, it was Magatsuhi. They needed to defeat the jewel itself, thus slaying Naraku in the process.

"Kagome-sama!" Kohaku called suddenly, "Get ready!" he instructed, as he noticed the same thing the inu-brothers had both attempted to prevent…a new barrage of tentacles heading straight for the shard in his neck.

"Kohaku! What are you doing?" Sango cried, as Kohaku dived away from Kirara.

_I'm sorry, Ane-ue, but I can't risk your life along with mine_.

Kagome knew what Kohaku intended of her, and holding her bow to her chest, she closed her eyes in prayer.

The bow from Mt. Azusa was no ordinary weapon.

"_This Mount Azusa is a sacred mountain_._"_

"_The spirit of Mount Azusa tests a person's heart_._" _

"_The bow…it's yours…"_

"_Kaede-babaa says that if you always carry it with you, it'll form a connection with your heart_._"_

"It's definitely not an ordinary weapon." she mumbled quietly to herself, as Hitomiko's words came rushing back to her.

"_Rather than you, that bow truly belongs to someone else_._ Someone who knows how to use it properly_._" _

_She was just trying to get under my skin…get me to see… _the miko realized now.

"_You merely shoot it_._ It's like you're not using its spiritual power_._" _

_That's right…my powers may be sealed, but the bow possesses spiritual powers of its own_._ Even then, Hitomiko said that she could sense nothing from me, but I was still able to use the bow properly_._ I was still able to use __its__ spiritual power_.

"_You know what you must shoot_._ Look carefully, and believe_._" _

"Please, give me strength." she whispered. _I can feel it, the bow's spiritual power_. "The one I must shoot…is Naraku!"

At the same moment that Naraku caught Kohaku's falling body, a tentacle instantly making contact with the shard in the back of his neck, Kagome fired.

Everyone watched in horrified fascination as Kagome's arrow raced towards Kohaku's location. Nobody could understand why she'd just done such a thing. Then, before everyone's eyes, her arrow momentarily disappeared, not piercing through the front of Kohaku's throat as it had appeared it was about to do moments prior. Reappearing on the other side of his neck, her arrow made ghostly contact with his shard, and there was an explosion of purifying light visible by all, as Kikyou's essence gained strength from the bow of Mt. Azusa, just like when Kagome had previously shot Kikyou herself.

Naraku realized too late what Kagome had intended to do, though that didn't stop the dark hanyou from sending another one of his tentacles hurling in her direction, piercing her shoulder. Fortunately, a backdraft from the spiritual explosion within Kohaku's shard somehow managed to travel down that same tentacle, purifying it as it went. That purification backdraft successfully cleansed Kagome's wound of Naraku's miasma, while at the same time stopping the tentacle itself before it could pierce the bone. It was as if the light from Kohaku's shard had deliberately sought to protect Kagome from Naraku's attack, otherwise she could have very easily lost her arm right then. As it was she just had a deep flesh wound but nothing more. The purifying light continued to envelope her then, until her entire body was surrounded by a pink glow. Vaguely, she thought she heared Inuyasha call her name.

_This is…Kikyou's soul? It's so warm_.

Naraku had already taken the shard from Kohaku's neck, but it was too late to stop what was already in motion, as the dark hanyou recoiled in agony from Kagome's arrow continuing along its path, slicing through his other tentacles.

"Bahhhh!" the dark hanyou cursed in pain, as Kohaku's lifeless body began to fall, only to once again be caught by Sango atop Kirara.

"Kohaku…?" the female slayer voiced in worry, cradling her brother's body.

Landing near where Kagome lay in Inuyasha's arms, Sango held her brother's fallen form in her own, and it didn't take long for Kagome to shake herself out of her daze, as she slowly approached their companion and her brother, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and the blood rushing down her arm. Reaching forward with her uninjured arm and placing a hesitant hand upon the boy's own shoulder, it was quickly revealed that the seal had been lifted from her spiritual powers, as her touch was suddenly able to revive him, even if only for a moment.

"Ane-ue…" he managed to rasp out, to everyone's great surprise.

They had all known that without his jewel shard, Kohaku would instantly fall dead, but he was merely functioning on borrowed power for the time being, Kagome's body still charged up from the jewel's pure light washing over her.

"It…is over…" he wheezed, and Sango could do nothing but cry silent tears as she slowly rocked her brother in her arms.

"You did it." she agreed, raising the boy in her arms so that he could observe the results of his sacrifice, "You helped us. We've won."

Glancing upward, Kagome could see for herself the light from Kohaku's shard, as it once again began purifying Naraku's jewel, as had been Kikyou's design prior to Magatsuhi's corruption.

"Nooooo!" Magatsuhi himself cried out, his voice echoing throughout the sky around them like thunder.

Naraku was in pain, but was also desperately attempting to recapture his presence over the jewel. He surrounded the stone with a blanket of miasma, as everyone bore witness to the forces of light and dark once again doing battle within the tiny bobble. Only this time, it looked as though Magatsuhi would not be victorious.

"You have lost, Magatsuhi." Sesshoumaru stated with confidence, his possession of Tenseiga allowing himself a unique perspective to the battle happening within the jewel that only he could see in such detail with his connection through the sword to the spiritual realm.

Naraku attempted to remove the purifying jewel from his person and launch a new attack towards his enemies, but Magatsuhi chose that moment to reveal the fact that he could control the dark hanyou's body just as easily as he had controlled Kohaku's.

"What is this?" Naraku cursed in panic, as he felt his body's will suddenly in the control of another.

"You are nothing." everyone heard Magatsuhi claim. "You are only powerful because _I _have _given _you that power."

Magatsuhi sounded terribly weakened, and indeed he was slowly being defeated by the increasing presence of Kikyou and Midoriko's combined purity within the completed jewel. But he would not allow himself to be defeated entirely. He would not allow himself to become vanquished from this Earth. Even though he knew it meant that he would once again have to start small, gradually corrupting the hearts of those who would encounter the individual shards, it was better than to remain as he was now. If he didn't act fast, then he would completely cease to exist in only a matter of seconds.

Naraku watched on in horror as he was unable to stop the remaining power of Magatsuhi from forcing one of his own tentacles through the jewel, once again shattering it into countless pieces, as his last act of will before being torn apart was then used to thrust the shards of the jewel outward, once again scattering it, and himself along with it, to the far reaches of Japan. Some of the shards were pure, while some were corrupted, but just like before, a dark shard could become purified by a miko's touch, while the pure shards could turn dark in the hands of somebody evil.

The balance had been restored, and while that meant that Magatsuhi still lived, and still had a chance to gradually increase his weakened powers of evil, it also meant that Kagome still had a chance to defeat him, her spiritual powers having been completely unsealed as Magatsuhi's influence over her disappeared the moment his being was shattered along with the jewel. She was certain that they would eventually recollect all of the shards, and that Magatsuhi would eventually be purified from the jewel completely. All he had truly done, in her opinion, was buy himself more time before his inevitable death. But that was a worry for another day, as they still had another foe to defeat, one that was currently still standing before them.

Naraku was no longer invincible, and now stood before his enemies with the faintest twinge of fear within his dark soul.

Inuyasha pointed his sword at the evil hanyou, a twisted smirk of amusement present on his lips. "You're going _down_, Naraku!" he promised, before releasing a powerful Wind Scar.

But apparently, some powers of Naraku's had truly been his own, though not many. While Inuyasha's attack struck true, with the dark hanyou no longer able to form a barrier, he managed to avoid getting completely annihilated by quickly changing shape, only losing several of his tentacles and insect legs rather than his entire being. Everyone watched in dread as he then began the slower process of regenerating himself. While his severed pieces of flesh no longer flew to his person of their own accord, he still possessed the power of absorption, and quickly launched out several tentacles from within himself to collect the surviving pieces of what had been severed in Inuyasha's attack. They knew that without the jewel Naraku would be easier to take down in the end, but apparently it wouldn't be _quite _as easy as they'd hoped. Considering what Naraku actually _was_, it made sense that the power of absorption would be something he naturally possessed on his own. Even with all his fascination of spiders and spider webs, only one of the main youkai that had joined with Onigumo's body had actually been a spider. Naraku, as a whole, was in truth a conglomeration of _several _youkai. When he had expelled Onigumo's heart prematurely, prior to the creation of Akago, the faceless man that had possessed Onigumo's memories had also possessed Naraku's regenerative power, and that being had not been in possession of a single jewel shard.

Speaking of jewel shards, one had landed near where Kagome sat, instantly purifying at her touch. With her left hand still placed firmly yet gently upon Kohaku's shoulder, she somehow managed to pick up the shard, despite the injury to her right shoulder, holding it thoughtfully between her fingers, a contemplative gaze in her eyes. But before she could execute her plan, the boy spoke.

"No, Kagome-sama…I do not desire to remain suspended in this world any longer."

"Kohaku, what are you saying?" Sango asked through her tears, wiping the dried trails of blood from Kohaku's cheeks.

"Please, Ane-ue, it is better this way. Like Kikyou-sama…Kagome-sama has…purified my soul."

At first Kagome thought he meant that she had managed to purify him as Kikyou herself had previously done, but then she realized that what he'd actually meant was that she, Kagome, had purified him just like how she had previously purified Kikyou's dying form.

"Kohaku…" Gently squeezing the shoulder she held, Kagome encouraged his eyes to meet her own, as she asked him quietly, "Are you sure…?"

Kagome didn't doubt his soul had been purified, but what she was asking was if he was sure of his decision regarding his life, and ending it. Even though she knew that the jewel needed to _one day _be completed, she was willing to place the purified shard she held back within his neck, if it would mean he could still live a little while longer.

"I died a long time ago." was his answer, and Sango leaned forward in that moment, kissing his forehead.

"Tell father he needn't worry about me. I'm not alone any longer." the slayer whispered, and she felt her brother nod against her in understanding.

As if on cue, another member of their group slowly staggered onto the scene at that moment.

"Miroku!" Sango and Kagome both cried out at the same time. "What are you doing out here?" the miko continued, sensing for herself how terribly wounded he still was, even if he could feel none of the pain.

"Keh, feeling better are you?" Inuyasha asked next, his act of indifference necessary to keep himself from yelling at the monk to get back in bed. What _was_ he doing out there, anyway? Hadn't he been unconscious? The shouki wound had reached his chest, and by the smell of things, Inuyasha realized with dread that the houshi's condition hadn't improved.

"Kaede helped me seal the wind tunnel." Miroku replied, revealing the extra prayer beads currently wrapped around his hand. "It has stopped growing."

"That doesn't answer our question!" Kagome protested.

Ignoring her, Miroku continued with his slow approach, using his staff as a walking stick, until he too was kneeling beside where Sango held Kohaku in her lap. For the briefest of moments, the boy smiled.

"You better take care of her." he told the monk plainly, "She truly loves you, you know."

All Sango could do was continue to cry, while Miroku answered solemnly with, "I know."

"Please, release me." he asked of Kagome then, a gentle pleading in his voice she'd never heard before, and she found she had no choice but to obey his wishes, slowly removing her hand from its place on his shoulder. Instantly, at the loss of her touch, his life left him, and Sango flung herself into Miroku's weary embrace, as the monk held his wife as tightly as his weakened body could manage.

"Naraku." Sesshoumaru spoke up then, "His will be the final death on your hands. Your time ends now. Bakusaiga!"

Having sheathed Tenseiga, Sesshoumaru swung with his new sword, launching his attack with deadly precision. Naraku barely managed to escape the blast, sacrificing several of his tentacles, which he had detached from his body so that the sword's blast wouldn't continue to eat away at him, in order to protect his heart. He still had many of his lower youkai left to play with, but he was nowhere near as powerful as he had once been. It also appeared as though the only shard that had stayed within the vicinity was already in Kagome's possession. He was, in a word, screwed. Where was that Byakuya bastard when you needed him?

"Oh no you don't!" Inuyasha shouted when it became clear that Naraku had avoided the brunt of his brother's attack. "Diamond Spears!"

Naraku's body was significantly damaged by the attack, but that didn't stop him from sending the fragments of adamant back in everyone else's direction. If he was going down, he at least intended to take as many of them out with him as he could.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted in panic, frantically leaping in the girl's direction.

"Inuyasha!"

Crouching down the best she could to protect her head, neck and chest, a few of the diamond shards managed to slice into her arms and back before he covered her body with his own, but fortunately they were smaller shards and she wasn't injured too severely. Sango, meanwhile, attempted to protect both herself and Miroku with Hiraikotsu, and for once, the youkai souls that made up her weapon seemed to grasp the concept of love, as they made sure both their mistress as well as her chosen life-mate remained unharmed. Kirara hadn't been present, having temporarily flown off to deliver Kohaku's body to Kaede in the village, but she was quickly back by Sango's side, as the taijiya prepared for what she knew would be the final battle.

"This. Ends. Here." she said through gritted teeth and drying tears. "Hiraikotsu!"

"Bakusaiga!"

"Wind Scar!"

Miroku also took notice in that moment of how, although Naraku still appeared to be able to regenerate himself, the process was suddenly much slower than it used to be. Seeing the dark hanyou's weakness as a window of opportunity, he quickly pulled the beads from his hand.

"You ask why I have come out here? Sango, I simply could not stay unconscious, when my heart knew you were in danger. I was called back to fight beside you! What good is my life if I cannot sacrifice it for the woman I love?"

"Miroku, no!" Kagome protested, but ignoring her, the monk released his kazaana, sucking in whatever loose pieces of Naraku he could manage.

Kagome flung herself at him, ignoring the searing pain running through her many wounds as she did so. She was sure she'd need stitches after everything was said and done. Gritting her teeth, the miko wrapped her arms around Miroku, offering whatever strength she could lend him as he sucked in a great deal of their enemy. At her touch, the scars of miasma that had nearly reached his heart instantly began to recede.

"She's purifying him!" Inuyasha cried out through a relieved laugh, for once not carrying about concealing his emotions. "Naraku, your ass is ours now!"

"I don't think so!" the dark hanyou shouted, suddenly releasing several saimyoshou in a desperate attempt to save himself from his own curse.

"Miroku, that's enough!" Sango shouted, and seeing the poisonous insects appear on the scene, he instantly resealed his wind tunnel. Thanks to Kagome's touch, Miroku's wounds of shouki were mostly purified, and the monk was, for the most part, in much better shape than when he'd first staggered out onto the battlefield.

"Naraku, your continued delusion of escape is laughable." Sesshoumaru stated calmly, swinging with his own sword yet again.

Inuyasha, rather than issuing forth another direct attack, channeled his Dragon Scale Tetsusaiga, and quickly took aim at the swirls of Naraku's youketsu. Because he was in fact made up of many different youkai, he possessed many different sources of youki, meaning there were many different youketsu visibly swirling around him. Inuyasha could not slice all of them at once, but he successfully cut through the two nearest ones, and Naraku screamed in agony as a couple pieces of himself fell away dead.

Naraku, who by that point more closely resembled a giant mutated spider/scorpion with a human torso sticking out of where the insect's face should be, quickly realized that his time was indeed up, when his only chance for salvation, his final and only living detachment Byakuya, was suddenly spotted floating near by, merely observing the goings on with an expression of indifference. The truth was, Byakuya wished for freedom from Naraku's control just about as badly as Kagura had in the end, and if Naraku was truly facing his moment of death, he wasn't about to interfere. The others also quickly realized that Byakuya had arrived on the scene, but when it became apparent that he had no intention of rushing to Naraku's aid, they too decided to let him be for the time being. They would figure out where they stood with him as a potential enemy later.

Still refusing to concede defeat, despite having come to the realization that his death was inevitable, Naraku managed to launch an attack in Inuyasha's direction in that moment, successfully piercing the shoulder of his sword arm and causing him to drop Tetsusaiga.

"Inuyasha!"

Rushing over to where her love was hunched over in pain, Kagome didn't hesitate to close the gap between them, even when she sensed the sudden pulse in his youki. When he raised his eyes to stare up at her, Kagome wasn't surprised to see that he had transformed into his youkai-self, but she didn't fear him in that state.

"Inuyasha, it's me, come back to me love, please." she cooed, before leaning forward and planting her lips upon his own.

_Kagome_…

His youkai blood instantly receded, and he pulled away from the chaste kiss with a hiss of pain, grabbing his shoulder. Unlike when Naraku had attempted to pierce Kagome's shoulder, nothing had hindered the dark hanyou's attack that time around, and his tentacle had successfully pierced Inuyasha's right shoulder clean through. The joint was dislocated, and the arm was currently useless. His current state was suddenly the least of his worries, though, when the inu-hanyou took a moment to glance back up at their enemy.

"Damn woman, get your ass outta the line of fire!" he shouted, and Kagome turned just in time to see the tentacle that had been heading straight for her head.

"No!" she shouted on instinct, flailing out her hand in its direction, and Naraku's tentacle instantly purified at her touch.

His body was badly broken, but the smirk on his stolen human face remained as condescending as ever, as he asked Kagome in a taunting manner, "You have bedded with that filthy hanyou?"

"Feh, where the hell have _you _been, moron? That was months ago." Inuyasha ground out in as nonchalant a tone as he could muster while hissing in pain, as Kagome helped him stagger to his feet. He knew he no longer had reason to fear the dark hanyou learning of their secret, considering he'd be dead in a matter of minutes.

"Then you truly are a weak imitation in place of Kikyou." Naraku continued, ignoring Inuyasha for the moment as he continued addressing Kagome directly, hoping to darken her spirit by making her doubt herself. "No true miko would ever willingly allow such filth to corrupt their purity."

Kagome just stared at Naraku with a sort of _'I'm so not in the mood for this' _expression on her face, but before a retort could reach her lips, it was Sesshoumaru, of all people, who spoke up on her behalf.

"The miko's _purity,_ as humans call it, is clearly not in question here. Anyone who can sense reiki should be able to recognize the obvious. Inferior though Inuyasha may be, their physical joining has proven irrelevant in regard to the strength of her miko powers."

"How about a demonstration!" Kagome shouted then, somehow managing to find the strength to draw back her bowstring, despite the blood that poured from the gaping wound in her shoulder as she did so.

"Kagome!" was shouted again, that time by Sango and Miroku simultaneously, who were both concerned for their friend, while Inuyasha, for once, gazed on in silence, loving pride reflected in his eyes.

_That's my girl_…

_Come on, _Kagome told herself, as her arm screamed in agony, _If a mother can lift a car off of her child, then this should be easy!_

Failing to suppress a scream of pain, she cried out at the physical protest of her injured body, but still managed to fire off her arrow in Naraku's direction despite it all.

Realizing she had actually managed to fire, Naraku's face adopted that look of clarity one possesses when they _know _they are about to die. He was not a fool, and indeed had known how strong Kagome's spiritual powers still were, but had merely hoped to ignite a spark of self-doubt within her consciousness at his words. Obviously, his effort had failed, quite miserably in fact.

After the torturous scream and explosion of light that followed in the wake of Kagome's arrow, the scene cleared away to reveal the pitiful remains of deceased youkai, surrounded by a mutilated human body. After all, Naraku _was_ in fact a hanyou, and therefore could not be _completely _purified into nonexistence by Kagome's arrow alone, regardless of how strong her powers truly were. It would seem, though, that he had been reduced to nothing more than the human bandit he had once been.

"Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru spoke again in that moment, turning to meet his brother's eyes while sheathing Bakusaiga. "He is yours, finish this."

Miroku and Sango both stared with wide, disbelieving eyes at the daiyoukai for so willingly giving up his prey in the final moments. Was it possible that Sesshoumaru held a tiny amount of respect for Inuyasha buried somewhere deep down inside?

"With pleasure." said hanyou hissed in return, wielding Tetsusaiga as best he could with his left hand. "Meidou Zangetsuha!" he shouted as he swung.

"Noooooo….." could be heard as Naraku, or rather Onigumo's remains, were sucked into the Meidou, and into Hell itself. The giant black void then collapsed upon itself, disappearing as if it'd never been, and a strange sort of peaceful tranquility took over the atmosphere.

That calm was immediately broken by the words, "I would thank you."

Everyone glanced up to see Byakuya of the Mirage floating overhead on his paper crane.

"I hadn't known if my life force was truly tied to Naraku's, if upon his death it would also mean my own. But to die knowing that a beast such as him had also reached his end would have proven a better fate than to have continued to live and serve under him."

"What are your plans with your new found freedom?" Miroku asked, and Byakuya smiled.

"You needn't worry about me. After meeting that bastard Magatsuhi, I've got no desire to go collecting the jewel shards. Stay out of my way, and I'll do the same."

Kagome nodded, adding, "So long as we don't hear word of you destroying any human villages. We slay youkai who do that."

"Of which I'm well aware." Byakuya answered, returning her nod, before he flew off into the distance.

He was a youkai of illusion, after all. Odds were that he would take up residence in some 'haunted' forest somewhere, and that would be that.

Further thoughts on the future plans of Byakuya were halted when each woman on the field chose that moment to check on the condition of their respective husbands. Miroku was not yet fully recovered, but neither was he on the verge of death any longer. Yakurou Dokusen's poison was still in effect, making him incapable of feeling pain, and upon Naraku's disappearance within Inuyasha's Meidou, his kazaana had closed and sealed, leaving not even the tiniest blemish.

Sango had somehow managed to come out of the battle against Naraku reasonably unscathed, but she was still sporting a fairly bad injury from their earlier confrontation with Magatsuhi, back when he had been controlling Kohaku's body. At the thought of her brother, a new wave of sadness overtook her, though she could at least tell herself that his suffering had finally come to an end. Just like he'd said, Kagome had purified his soul. He was at peace now.

Speaking of Kagome, the miko in question was completely ignoring her own many wounds for the time being, frantically poking and prodding at Inuyasha's shoulder, wishing to see the true extent of the damage. That was proving rather difficult to do, however, while the hanyou in question was also simultaneously attempting to ignore his own injury in favor of checking on the condition of his wife.

"Let me see your shoulder!"

"_You_ let me see _your _shoulder!"

And so on.

"Inuyasha…" Sesshoumaru spoke from his place beside them, and they each froze in their attempts at examining the other's shoulder in favor of glancing across at the elder daiyoukai.

"Yeah?" he asked, no trace of hostility present in his voice. He had never truly hated his brother.

"You have proven yourself worthy of possessing father's blood." Sesshoumaru stated matter-of-factly, as though the entire battle with Naraku had merely been a test of some sort.

While that obviously hadn't been Sesshoumaru's intention, as the dark hanyou had been a genuine enemy in need of slaying, the daiyoukai had certainly not failed to observe Inuyasha's strength during the battle. The hanyou had already proven himself the true heir of Tetsusaiga, it was high time he accepted the half-breed as an heir of their father's, as well.

"Miko…" he spoke next, and desperately trying to mask the pain in her voice, so as not to show her human weaknesses, she too responded simply with, "Yes?"

"You have proven yourself worthy of Inuyasha."

With that said, the daiyoukai turned and headed towards the village, where he had left Jaken and Rin. He could smell his ward's injury, from her previous encounter with Magatsuhi's evil aura, but he could also smell that she would make a full recovery, the medicinal bath the old miko had prepared for her already doing its job. Jaken was fortunate.

Inuyasha and Kagome, in the mean time, were left blinking, staring after his retreating form in confusion mixed with relief. When Sesshoumaru had initially discovered the new level of their relationship, something they wouldn't have been able to hide from him even if they had tried, he hadn't given any outward sign regarding his feelings on the matter one way or another aside from the brief pause in his speech that indicated his surprise when he had shown up out of the blue upon sensing Inuyasha's group nearby, wishing to compare notes in their mutual hunt for Naraku. The daiyoukai had been in a truce of sorts with his half-brother for some time, but at that time, it wouldn't have surprised the hanyou for an insult or two to have slipped past his brother's lips. Even something casual like how he should have known he would prove so weak as to repeat their father's mistake. Instead, Sesshoumaru had almost imperceptibly crinkled his nose, as if he found the scent of their recent joining to be mildly disgusting but didn't otherwise care one way or the other. He had let it go at that time without mention, and they had honestly thought that he was going to continue to let it go without mention from that moment onward, feeling secure in the fact that if he had had anything negative to say he would have most certainly done so right then and there, when he had first discovered it. They had certainly never expected the daiyoukai to actually say anything on the subject in a remotely _positive_ fashion.

"Did...did your brother just…give us his blessing?" Kagome finally asked after a moment, the first to come out of their stupor.

"I…I think so, yeah."

...o...o...

Sesshoumaru remained a 'sort-of' ally ever since the final battle. They definitely weren't _friends_, but he no longer showed up looking to fight Inuyasha to the death, either. On the rare occasion that they crossed paths with the daiyoukai while out hunting jewel shards, they more or less simply nodded to each other and kept going along their separate ways.

Once, Sesshoumaru even surprised them both by showing up at their campsite, tossing the miko two jewel shards. He claimed simply that while Rin had been fishing, a river youkai had thought to attack her, and that upon its death he had discovered that the beast had been in possession of those shards.

He had kept them for a brief time, thinking that he would merely relinquish them the next time their paths crossed on their own, but after a while they started proving troublesome to possess. He was unable to purify them, after all, and while their blackened taint proved completely ineffective at corrupting his own soul, they were making his small group a continual target for 'annoying' youkai. Youkai that he was getting 'bored' with having to slay all of the time. It was for that reason that he had finally decided to sniff out his half-brother and his human mate, to get rid of the useless things once and for all.

All he said while in their presence was regarding how he had come to possess those two shards and why he had sought them out to be rid of them, saying nothing about the scent of their recent coupling in the air, or anything at all that could have been considered an insult to either of them. He left in a hurry, claiming he no longer fully trusted Jaken's ability to keep Rin safe from harm during times of his absence, though that statement in and of itself also seemed odd when you took into consideration that the daiyoukai had actually admitted to _caring _about Rin's safety in the first place.

Things were definitely changing.

**~~~End Flashback~~~**

"I can detect the faintest hint of my scent marks on the wind, we should reach the village in the next hour or so." Inuyasha proclaimed as they ran through the mountains that bordered his forest.

"Thank the gods…" Kagome groaned from her place on his back. It had been a long three days since the night of the new moon in that cave, filled with nothing but battle after battle, and after everything, they only had one more jewel shard to show for it, from that damn bear youkai. None of the uglies they'd battled since then had had any shards of their own, only coming after them because they'd wanted _her _shards.

"What I wouldn't give for a nice long, hot shower, before crawling into a real bed."

"Hmmm…" Inuyasha contemplated below her as he continued to run, "That sounds nice…I think I'll join you."

"Hentai."

"You know it."


	3. I ain't afraid of no ghost…

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

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Chapter 3 – I ain't afraid of no ghost…

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"Mama! We're back!" Kagome called from the genkan, kicking off her shoes while Inuyasha did his best to wipe his feet as they entered her family's home.

"Welcome back, dear." her mother greeted from her place in the kitchen doorway.

"What day is it?" Kagome asked, believing she had kept track of her calendar correctly, but wishing to double-check.

"It's Monday dear, the 29th." her mother replied, and Kagome sighed with relief. They'd made it with time to spare.

"I'm going to go get cleaned up before dinner." she told Inuyasha with a quick peck on the cheek, before staggering her exhausted body towards the shower.

Inuyasha was quick to follow her into the main part of the house, though he went left to head upstairs while she went right, towards the family washroom. He took Kagome's bow, arrows, and backpack to her room, taking a moment to glance around and smile that secret smile that he never let anyone but his wife see, before heading back downstairs to see if that cat was anywhere around…

Mrs. Higurashi grinned at the sight of her son-in-law playing with Buyo. While he and Kagome had not been married in the modern sense, she understood that the boy had no papers of identification, and as such a legal marriage simply would not be possible, regardless of his hanyou appearance. But that didn't stop her from considering the young man currently sitting on her kitchen floor as her daughter's husband. She also knew that Inuyasha was actually a lot older than he appeared, but that didn't stop her from seeing him as the innocent boy he truly was deep down inside. While granted, he had obviously matured in _some _ways, considering his relationship with her daughter, it honestly amazed Mrs. Higirashi how child-like he could still appear at times, like now, when he had seen and received so much hardship for so long.

"I'm sure Buyo missed you, Inuyasha…" she spoke softly, causing the man/child to freeze in his playful torture of the family pet, "But why don't you go join Kagome? Dinner won't be ready for a while yet, and Father's still puttering around outside doing his shrine duties until I call him."

He just sort of gaped at her. Had she just said…?

"Uh…"

"Oh! I nearly forgot." she chimed up as if completely changing the subject. "I know you promised Souta that you two would play that new video game of his the next time you came over, but he's actually spending the night at a friend's house tonight, so you're going to have to take a raincheck on the Playstation, I'm afraid, since he isn't home right now."

He grinned then. No Souta? No Jii-chan? Maybe he _should _go join Kagome. He'd only been kidding when he'd said so before, knowing how Kagome felt about doing anything with her family in the house, but if it was only her mother, and she had just _suggested _it…

"I'll umm, yeah…see you for dinner in a little bit?" he asked shyly. It was still an embarrassing subject to discuss with her _mom_.

"Of course, sweetheart."

With that, he bolted out of the kitchen faster than the human eye could see, appearing as nothing more than a red blur. Mrs. Higurashi merely chuckled to herself at the sight before getting back to chopping her vegetables. Ah, to be young and in love.

...o...o...

Tuesday was rather uneventful. They enjoyed just lazing about the house, doing _literally _nothing.

Inuyasha would never get used to Kagome's crazy modern world. He knew there was no way in all the ten hells that he could ever learn to livethere on a permanent basis, there was simply much too much that he'd never be able to understand…but it was definitely a nice place to come and visitfrom time to time.

When he needed a drink of water, he didn't have to go sniffing out a stream, first making sure that the area wasn't guarded by something bigger and stronger than himself before sneaking out into the open. All he had to do was grab a 'glass' out of her cupboard, and turn on the 'sink' to get his much needed thirst quencher. While granted, the water tasted a little funny, he could tell that there was nothing _truly _harmful in it, at least not for a hanyou such as himself, and to him, the simple pipeline that Kagome had explained was sort of like a pressurized well system seemed like nothing short of a miracle.

Some things went completely over his head, like the television, but while he couldn't grasp her explanation as to how the contraption actually worked, he had come to accept that the people he saw on the screen were actors, performing in various plays. _That _concept he understood. They had plays in his own time, after all. Never mind how the images appeared on the screen, it wasn't _that _important. Inuyasha enjoyed watching movies with her, and appreciated that she tried to keep their viewing choices limited to things he'd be a little more likely to understand. Nothing 'science fiction'…whatever _that_ was, that Souta had suggested but Kagome had in turn insisted he wouldn't be able to follow. He hadn't gotten offended at her words; Kagome had explained that she knew he wasn't _stupid_, but that there were certain things that _nobody _from his time period would be able to understand. At least not without first being sat down and having everything explained for hours on end, and it wasn't honestly anything he was that interested in learning in the first place. So they usually stuck to martial arts movies, or the occasional 'Western' which he could also follow, as there was no 'modern technology' involved in those types of movies, either. Inuyasha knew what guns were…they had _those _in his time period, too, even though they were a little rare, and much more primitive than what those 'cowboys' used.

He and Kagome were currently alone in the house, what with Souta being at school, and her grandfather once again outside somewhere doing whatever it was he did out there all day, while her mother had run to the store. Of course, Murphy's Law would arrange that he was temporarily left to his own devices, while Kagome excused herself to use the restroom, when the phone rang. The noise startled him at first, but he quickly recalled Kagome's brief explanation regarding what a telephone was and how to use it. He understood what it did, in theory, even if he didn't have the foggiest idea as to how the thing actually worked. He also knew that there was a strange phrase he had been unfamiliar with the first time he'd heard Kagome's mother use it, until Kagome had explained that it was a greeting they used only when answering the phone…which of course explained why he'd never heard it before. At first he thought he would just let it ring, that whoever it was would 'call back'…but after they did indeed call back, one minute later, the inu-hanyou rolled his eyes and decided that it couldn't be _that _bad for him to answer the phone himself. The ringing was getting fucking annoying.

"Moshi moshi." he said into the device, having seen both Kagome and her mother talk on the thing on several occasions.

"Ummm…hi…is Kagome there?" asked a confused female voice on the other end.

"She's in the toilet." he answered bluntly.

"Oh…" the voice giggled nervously, before suddenly perking up, "Hey! Is this Inuyasha?" she asked.

His ears flickered nervously at the girl's recognition. Who was she? She must be one of Kagome's friends from the party last year. But which one? Well, it wasn't like _that _really mattered. They were all the same.

"Um, yeah." he answered hesitantly. "What of it?"

"Oh I'm so glad I caught you!" the female continued, ignoring the rudeness of his response. "I was going to tell Kagome, and then ask her to invite you too, but since I'm already talking to you, then I'll just tell you and then you can tell Kagome what I told you to tell her so that she doesn't have to invite you because I already told…"

He pulled the phone away from his ear. Didn't these girls ever shut up?

"Tell me what?" he finally interrupted.

"Oh." the voice giggled again, "Well, I know last year Eri had said that she was going to have another party, but we were thinking that this year, since we're all eighteen now, that we'd do something a little more _real _for Halloween, instead, ya know?"

"Ummm…."

"Sort of like a right of passage thing, 'cause we're not kids any more." the girl continued, "So we've decided…we're all going to stay the night at Yuurei Manor." she finished dramatically, obviously awaiting some kind of a reaction from him at the name.

"Ummm…"

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked with confusion, having come into the room to see him on the phone. Somehow, Yuka managed to hear Kagome's voice in the background, as she suddenly squealed in Inuyasha's ear.

"Oh! Kagome! Tell her what I said! No, better yet, let me talk to her!" she bounced giddily.

"It's for you." Inuyasha mumbled, virtually shoving the phone at her, which she accepted with an unprepared fumble, before shaking her head in exasperation and placing it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Kagome! Guess what!"

Kagome listened as Yuka proceeded to explain to her what she'd just told Inuyasha, except this time, Inuyasha could tell from Kagome's reaction that the name did indeed hold some measure of significance.

"Are you insane?" she chastised. "First of all, that's breaking and entering, second of all…No! I'm not _scared_…Yuka, no, I …no…yes…no I'm _not _scared of 'a few ghosts', and that place isn't even _haunted _to begin with…" she continued.

_Ah…so that's it_. Inuyasha understood, some abandoned house in town that was supposed to be haunted…interesting.

"Yuka, I don't think…no…I don't know…" she sighed, glancing over at Inuyasha. He could easily still hear Yuka's voice through the device, and knew that she'd just asked Kagome what _he _thought about the idea, obviously hoping that he would assist her with convincing Kagome that they should go.

"If you don't want to, then we won't." he told her quietly enough that the girl on the other end of the line wouldn't hear him. "But if you kinda do want to go, don't worry 'bout me. I'll go with you, I don't mind."

Kagome smiled at him. One of her true, heart-warming smiles, that still made his insides flutter even after all their time together. He had changed so much since they'd gotten together. Before, he never would have told her that they could do whatever she wanted, that he didn't mind accompanying her to such a thing. The oldhim would have snorted, and chastised that doing something like that was a stupid waste of time.

The truth was, she _did _kind of want to go with her friends, although she was still worried about the 'breaking and entering' part, despite the fact that that old mansion had been abandoned for a good thirty years, at least. The story went that a wealthy family had lived there once; a husband and wife with their two sons. Everything was fine until supposedly, one day, the man went nuts and murdered his wife and sons before killing himself. The details of _how _the family had died always seemed to change every time she heard the story. Some people said he drove a knife straight through their hearts, while other people said he had somehow gotten a gun and had shot them all. Some people said he shot himself afterwards, while others claimed he had hanged himself. Other people denied that anything out of the ordinary had happened there at all, believing the whole story to be the workings of urban legend after the house was abandoned for non-murderous reasons. If Kagome were to be completely honest with herself, she used to be one of those people. Oh, she didn't dispute that the family had disappeared, and she never dismissed the possibility that foul play could have been involved…but haunted? She had never bought into the tale that that place was actually _haunted _as a result of anything that might have taken place , that huge house had been boarded up since before she was born, and yes, all throughout her school years she had heard tales of those older than her braving a stay in the place, only to report back with horrid accounts of haunted activity. Others had claimed to know of somebody else who had stayed in the manor, never to be heard from again. The ongoing claim that the place was haunted had been what had finally dubbed the abandoned mansion 'Ghost Manor', although she doubted any of those people had _actually _stayed the night in there, especially if they feared disappearing. Kagome was honestly surprised that Yuka had actually suggested the lot of them doing such a thing, themselves. While she had never personally believed the place to be haunted, her friends, especially Yuka, had always been among those who fell for the fantasy hook, line and sinker.

Should they really be doing this? Wasn't it against the law? There _had_ to be some property owner floating around out there somewhere, otherwise the city would have reclaimed the land a long time ago. Supposedly, according to the story, the house became inherited by the dead wife's brother, who simply chose to do nothing with the place ever since. But since _somebody _obviously owned the place, she felt a little bad staying the night there. Though granted, it wasn't as if she'd never stayed the night in an abandoned hut back in the Feudal era, and certainly the owner of that building must realize that people have broken inside before. It _was _abandoned, at least as far as the public was concerned. Maybe he just didn't care?

_Screw it_, she finally decided, _I deserve to have a night of fun with my friends_.

"All right…" Kagome finally relented to the squealing Yuka on the other end of the line.

"Cool!" Yuka cheered in her ear, causing _her _to pull the phone away from her head a bit, which made Inuyasha chuckle. "We'll stop by your house tomorrow evening to kidnap…I mean get you…" she said, trying to sound funny. "Have an overnight bag packed!"

"Okay, we will…okay…_bye _Yuka."

Upon hanging up the phone, the miko slouched tiredly against the wall behind her, pinching her nose with a very _'How do I always get myself into these things?' _expression on her scrunched up face. She was just about to ask sarcastically what kind of drugs her friends were all taking when her mom suddenly returned home with the groceries. Oh well, she had time to worry about her friends' mental health later. Right now, she and Inuyasha should help her mother carry everything inside.

...o...o...

The following evening Kagome was pacing in her room, nervously waiting for her friends to arrive. She had told her mom that she and Inuyasha were going to be staying overnight with her friends at _somebody's _house, kind of semi-lying, stating that they were coming to 'kidnap' them for a night of Halloween fun, and she didn't know _where _they'd end up. It was a lie in the sense that she _did _know where they were staying, but at least she hadn't outright lied that she was staying specifically at one of her friends' houses, where her mother could theoretically attempt to reach her later and be unable to. "Be careful" her mother had told her, and that had been that. Mrs. Higurashi wasn't worried since she knew that Inuyasha would be going with her. Kagome _was _eighteen now, after all, and had already been a married woman for an entire year…though her friends didn't know that. But the point was that Kagome could do what she wanted. She was an adult. But speaking of marriage, the miko had told Inuyasha it would probably be best to leave the 'married' thing alone, otherwise her friends were bound to all be on her case nonstop about why she hadn't invited them.

When Inuyasha finally informed her that he could hear her friends approaching, they darted outside to meet them, a quick "Bye Mama!" echoing in their wake.

"Have fun dears." Mrs. Higurashi answered, despite the fact that they were already out the door. She was pretty sure that at least Inuyasha had still heard her.

"Your mom said for us to have fun." he relayed to Kagome as they approached the shrine steps.

Upon greeting her friends at the top of the steps, she blanched. What was _Hojo _doing there? Oh well…she sighed, at least he knew she was with Inuyasha now, right? And at least she and Inuyasha weren't the only ones in 'costume', like she had feared they were going to be.

Since Inuyasha obviously couldn't do anything about being hanyou, Kagome had still dressed up in her miko attire, though she didn't really consider her everyday clothing to be a costume, but whatever. Fortunately, they didn't really stand out all that dramatically, after all.

Apparently to get into the 'mood' of things, two of her friends had chosen to dress themselves up in outfits that looked as though they'd been pulled right out of an Evanescence video. Eri was dressed in an off-white floor length gown that had an outer layer of floral lace over the skirt, with a fitted bodice and belled half-sleeves. Yuka was dressed in a black gothic number with a full length skirt overlaid in a gathering of black tulle, with a velvet corset top that laced in the back, and long, straight sleeves.

Ayumi had opted for a more classical approach, in that she was dressed in a hauntingly dark blue yukata with pale cream obi. It was something straight out of your traditional Japanese ghost story, complete with a matching midnight blue geisha fan. She had enough hair to wrap up into a small bun, which she'd done, and eerie pendants of ghosts and youkai hung from her various hair ornaments, symbolizing herself as a servant to the underworld.

Hojo was the only one who appeared not to have dressed up for the occasion, wearing his school uniform, of all things. Didn't that boy own any other clothes? The only thing Kagome could recall _ever _seeing him wear besides that uniform was the store bought vampire costume he'd worn at last year's party.

And speaking of Hojo, he seemed to take notice of Kagome's ensemble around the same time that she'd noticed his, and was currently scrutinizing her outfit as well. Were the bow and arrows truly necessary? "A miko?" he questioned, looking her up and down.

"Well, somebody has to purify all the ghosts at Yuurei Manor, right?" she chuckled nervously in response. What was _his _problem?

The truth was, she was only half kidding. While she had been a firm believer growing up that there was no such thing as ghosts, she had quickly been proven wrong shortly after her fifteenth birthday. She would never forget the angry spirit of that young girl who had died in the house fire, the little sister of one of Souta's friends. If there _were _ghosts at Yuurei Manor, or at least, _children _ghosts, then it might be possible that she and Inuyasha would also detect the presence of the Soul Piper. She wasn't sure what the rules were regarding adult spirits, but if people had actually disappeared, then the situation was rather serious. She wasn't really going in in battle mode, though, honestly still hoping that it would turn out the whole thing was nothing more than an urban myth. She would just be keeping her senses open, just in case.

Unlike Hojo, Yuka actually thought that Kagome's miko outfit was pretty cool. It certainly fit, considering she was from a shrine family. In a way, you could say that she really _was _a miko, even if today's miko didn't have any of the cool powers like the legendary miko of the past did. Yuka was also quick to notice Inuyasha's repeat in costume choices, though she wasn't going to chastise the boy on lack of creativity. His inu-hanyou accessories were actually pretty damn realistic, and she could easily understand the concept of having a favorite costume. There was no rule that said you couldn't wear the same thing two years in a row.

"Oh! _I_ get it." Eri suddenly chimed in, glancing across at the Goshinboku tree behind them. "You're still an inu-hanyou, like in that legend, so this time, Kagome is the miko! You're lovers!"

Inuyasha spluttered at the bluntness of her comment, his cheeks instantly flaming as deep a crimson as his fire-rat robes. Kagome chose that moment to silently thank the gods that they actually _were _together now, or else all hell would've broken lose at such a comment.

"Though of course, according to legend, the hanyou and miko may have loved each other, but were never really_ '_lovers'." Hojo provided, sounding as though he were merely giving a history lesson, although Kagome couldn't help but to wonder if there wasn't the tiniest spark of jealousy hidden somewhere deeply within the boy.

Apparently, Inuyasha had picked up on the same vibe from Hojo that she had, instantly losing his embarrassment in favor of defending what was his. Unfortunately for Kagome, that meant that before she could come up with a safer, less embarassing reply, Inuyasha beat her to it with his knowing comment of, "Yeah, well…so we deviate from the original story a little bit."

At first she groaned to herself at his announcement, until she realized, _Wait a minute, I __am__ eighteen here, and I seriously doubt that __they're_ _all still virgins_…

Yes, this would not be the end of the world, after all.

"Go Kagome!" Eri cheered, "He's hot!" she declared shamelessly, re-igniting the burn under his cheeks.

Kagome glanced his way with a very, _'Well that's what you get, big mouth'_ kind of smirk, before agreeing with Eri's statement wholeheartedly.

They continued to walk down the steps in silence for a moment, before Ayumi spoke up with, "I'm so happy for you." She knew that Kagome had been in love with that white haired boy for quite some time, although she hadn't known at first how he'd felt about her in return, based upon the stories she used to tell.

Apparently, Yuka hadn't forgotten about those stories, either, as she asked in her typical straightforward manner, "So, you're not ever going to hurt our Kagome again, right?" She wasn't about to tell Kagome that she could do better, if she really loved the guy, but she didn't want to see her friend crying over milkshakes because he had two-timed her again.

"What?" Inuyasha asked, stopping in his tracks and somewhat offended at the question. Him? Hurt Kagome? He'd rather gift wrap the Tetsusaiga for his brother's next birthday. But the way Yuka said 'again' gave him pause, allowing Kagome time to explain before he could go off at the accusation.

"She means Kikyou." she provided quietly, taking his hand, and he instantly understood.

_Oh… _

Neither of them noticed how surprised Kagome's three girlfriends were at how she'd just said the other girl's name so openly.

When they reached the bottom of the concrete stairs, Kagome finally realized why it was that Hojo had accompanied them, as he was the one who removed a set of keys from his pocket, pushing a button that opened the trunk of the car that was parked on the curb in front of them. The manor was a fair distance off the beaten path, after all. It wasn't some place that they could just _walk _to.

_Nice one guys_, the miko thought, shaking her head, _Use the poor guy for his car, why don't you_.

"That was a long time ago." Kagome suddenly continued aloud on the Kikyou subject, as she moved around to the opened trunk and found a spot for her backpack along side everyone else's luggage. She was technically addressing the three girls with her little speech, though she secretly hoped that Hojo was listening as well. "Kikyou is…no longer an issue between us." she began, finding a place for her quiver and bow. "I was younger, and easily upset, back when all that drama had taken place before. I didn't really want to understand the kind of obligations Inuyasha'd truly had, but everything's been resolved now for a long time." she explained, turning to the man in question and pulling the sheathed Tetsusaiga from his obi to store in the trunk as well. "I've forgiven him for my past tears, and we've officially been together, happily, for an entire year now." she concluded, closing the trunk and taking Inuyasha's hand once more.

Kagome's three girlfriends all beamed at her words with the proverbial anime hearts floating around their heads and fluttering in their eyes. All four females present seemed to miss the twinge of _something _that flashed in Hojo's eyes in that same moment, which most certainly wasn't cartoon hearts. Inuyasha saw it, however, some bizarre mixture between sad longing and anger, and he quickly met the boy's eyes with his own. He gave Hojo a look that said he wanted to be civil with him, but that he needed to learn when to _back _the _fuck_ off. He was still a little pissed over that candy corn incident, too. His ears were _sensitive_, and that shit had hurt! Of course, Inuyasha realized that Hojo had obviously had no idea that he was a _real _inu-hanyou, although something about the boy's overall personality seemed to suggest that if he _did _know, he would be one of those people telling Kagome to stay away from a 'monster' such as himself. Her three girlfriends, on the other hand, would probably jump up and down squealing nonsense, and ask to touch his ears.

Said appendages automatically lowered at the thought, though fortunately nobody seemed to notice their movement. Everyone was too busy deciding upon the seating arrangements for their drive. He didn't care where anybody else sat, just so long as he was next to Kagome. He didn't appreciate how it looked as though somebody _else _would have to sit next to Kagome as well, but just so long as it was one of the girls, he supposed that would be all right. Fortunately, it looked as though Hojo was the one who'd be operating the contraption. Inuyasha would admit, at least to himself, that he was a little nervous to be climbing inside one of those things, but he wouldn't let it show while in the presence of her friends.

Once everyone was seated, the final layout consisted of Hojo in the driver's seat, with Yuka squished next to him on the little excuse of a middle seat provided upfront when the center console was raised, followed by Eri jammed over in the passenger's side next to her. The two girls didn't seem to mind the close quarters at all, though, as they proceeded to chat it up regarding how they couldn't wait to see Yuurei Manor for themselves, and how 'so and so' had said it was this way, and 'so and so' had said it was that way. Inuyasha couldn't care less. But he _had _cared about having somebody else physically packed up against himself, which was why he had maneuvered it so that he was against one door, with Kagome in the middle, and that other girl, Ayumi, sitting on the opposite side. There was a tad more room for three people in the back, although his and Kagome's thighs were still snugly touching one another. Not that he minded that in the least. He also didn't mind Kagome being in physical contact with that Ayumi girl. She seemed nice enough, and was the one out of her three chatterbox friends that he minded the least.

The drive was rather uneventful, as Yuka turned on something he knew was called the 'radio', filling the car with upbeat foreign music from her 'CD'. He might not have understood what was being said, but that didn't seem to stop anybody else from enjoying the song currently being played. Kagome explained quietly that the words were in a language called English, and in a delicate whisper that nobody but himself would hear, she translated the lyrics for him to the best of her ability, doing her best to keep in time with the song. Everybody should be able to enjoy the timeless American masterpiece that was 'Thriller', after all.

Several other appropriately themed songs played throughout their drive, Yuka obviously having put forth a fair amount of effort into burning a Halloween mix CD for their trip. It made Kagome wonder how long they'd actually been planning this little vacation, before deciding to spring it on her at the last second. Though granted, even if they had tried to call her before yesterday, she wouldn't exactly have been able to take their call. In the end, it had all worked out.

Arriving at their destination, Hojo pulled the car around back where passersby on the road wouldn't be able to see it, before everyone gathered their luggage and made their way towards the front of the rather large building. Inuyasha's nose wrinkled from the amount of stale air and dust that he could already smell from just standing out there on the front lawn, or rather, what he assumed _used _to be the front lawn. Still, if Kagome wanted to stay the night here with her friends, then he would let her, and since there was no way in all the ten hells that he'd ever let her stay in an unknown environment such as this unprotected, that meant that if _she _stayed the night in such a place, then so did he.

You could tell that nobody had lived there for a long time. The windows had all been boarded up at one point, though a lot of the boards had since either fallen, or been torn down. What glass that was exposed was broken, and a few small patches of house here and there were covered in a bizarre ink, which Inuyasha figured out pretty quickly was just somebody's way of marking that they had been at the 'forbidden' property.

It wasn't long before everybody started to wonder how hard it would be to get in, if the door was locked, and if they'd need to find a window to crawl through somewhere. It was Yuka who first braved approaching the front door to investigate, and things were made infinitely easier when the door proved to be unlocked, swinging open with a loud creak upon the gentlest touch of her hand. She laughed nervously, and turning back to the others, joked, "Well, looks like we're being invited in."

Inuyasha and Kagome shared a look that told each other to remain on guard, as they slowly followed her friends inside.

...o...o...

"Oh ick." Eri complained, wondering where it would be safe to sit without getting her dress all filthy. Oh well, should have thought of that before.

Virtually _everything _was covered in dust. What little furniture there was, mostly Western influence in style, was covered by old white tarps that were darkened with age, and riddled with moth holes. Cobwebs clung to nearly every surface, stretching upward towards the high ceiling in the living room, framing every doorway, and traveling up the banister of the stairwell. The floors were so grimy anyway that it was unanimously agreed that everyone would keep their shoes on, nobody really wanting to get their feet all dirty, and besides…who knew if they would have to run for their lives at any given moment? Kagome wasn't sure yet about the place actually being haunted, but labeling it 'filthy' would win the grand prize of all understatements. Glancing sympathetically in Inuyasha's direction, the miko couldn't imagine what it must be like for him when even _she _had to cover her nose to keep from exploding into a sneezing frenzy. As the gang moved forward into what was once the living room, Ayumi gaped at the beat up looking grand piano that sat lopsidedly off in one corner.

"Oh wow." she exclaimed, rushing towards the instrument as quickly as her snug yukata would allow, before hesitantly tapping on one of the keys.

The most gods awful out-of-tune _twang _that anyone had ever heard echoed loudly throughout the silent two-story building, and everyone glared at the girl with a very _'Don't do that again'_ expression on their faces.

It was very dark inside the mansion, which was obviously to be expected with over half of the total windows still at least partially boarded up, but there was still enough light coming in from the evening sun for everyone to make out what they assumed to be a family portrait that hung crookedly on the wall above the fireplace. The photo consisted of a man and a woman, with two small boys of similar age, each dressed in rather expensive looking traditional robes. It seemed somewhat out of place that they would be dressed so traditionally for their portrait when they obviously preferred Western style furnishings, although Kagome could definitely understand the concept of getting prettied up for picture day.

It was quickly decided that they'd all be camping out in the living room downstairs, as the large open space gave off some semblance of security, and they didn't much feel like splitting up into the various smaller bedrooms upstairs. It seemed, though, that Kagome had to question how many horror films her friends had actually seen throughout their lifetimes, as slowly but surely, everyone started to wander around in separate directions anyway, 'exploring'. She shrugged it off with a small chuckle after a moment though, telling herself that there was nothing to worry about, as she was yet to sense anything that felt like any sort of threat. Although she _had _left her jewel shards back at the shrine…just in case…stashed away in her lockbox which she'd sealed with one of Miroku's ofuda…just _in case _in case…

Eri quickly found her way into the kitchen, glancing about the older style appliances and tile flooring with that eerie feeling one gets when you feel connected to something gone before. It was as if she could picture what the room had looked like back when it'd been new, back when it had still been in use. In her mind's eye, she could see the family from that portrait sitting around the now broken table, enjoying a peaceful breakfast. What had happened to them? What had _really _happened to them? Was that whole murder/suicide thing just some cover story? What if the _entire _family had been murdered, and whoever had done it had gone free? Approaching the sink, she didn't know why she'd expected to see it full of mucky disgusting water. As it was, the white porcelain was dry as a bone, even if it was truly no longer white; it was stained with so many years of filth. Reaching for the faucet, she turned it into the 'on' position, jumping out of her skin at the horrid gurgling sound that rattled throughout the dry pipes. She hadn't honestly expected any water, but she hadn't expected there to be any sort of pressure on the line, either. At least nobody had seen her jump like an idiot, she sighed with relief, as she quickly turned it off and made her way back towards the living room.

An older style rotary phone hung covered in grime on the wall, and once again picking up on the nostalgia of when the house had been lived in, she picked up the receiver, not surprised in the least when the phone remained completely silent.

"Booo!"

"Ahhh!"

Yuka laughed hysterically, leaning forward with her hands on her knees, as Eri screamed "Don't _do _that!"

"You should have seen your face!"

Frowning, Eri hung up the phone, much to Yuka's amusement. "What were you expecting? To hear some guy ask what's your favorite scary movie?"

Pouting in embarrassment, Eri attempted to defend herself. "Old style phones don't need electricity to work; I was just curious."

"They may not need electricity, but they still need somebody to pay the phone bill on time." Hojo chimed in from his place in the doorway, thoroughly amused, and deciding he was glad they had talked him into coming on this trip, after all.

He would admit it; he still had feelings for Kagome. He had been hoping that she and that Inuyasha person would have broken up at some point over the last year, but apparently, that wasn't the case. He hadn't even known who that guy was, at first, although he did recognize him from that time he'd crashed their school play, way back when. It would have been hard not to make the connection, considering he had been wearing his hanyou costume at the cultura festival, too. Hojo had thought that Inuyasha and Kagome had just been friends, though…which apparently actually _had_ been true back then, after all…at least according to the story she'd just relayed that evening. Apparently, she had had feelings for that guy for some time, but they hadn't been 'together' at first. Not until after he'd gotten something or other resolved with some ex-girlfriend of his. Hojo had no idea what could have possibly been so important that it had prevented Inuyasha from being with Kagome, if he'd truly had any sort of feelings for the girl at all. _Nothing _would have kept _him _from being with Kagome, if she had ever actually shown any interest in him. She deserved somebody who understood how special she really was. Someone who'd treat her like number one in their life, rather than second choice. She shouldn't be with somebody who had kept her feelings for him pushed aside on the back burner until it was convenient. Hojo tried to tell himself in that moment that he was glad she at least seemed to be happy with whom she had chosen, though. He wanted her to be happy above all else, after all. Still, if that Inuyasha character had truly caused Kagome any tears, then he didn't deserve her, in his book. And besides that, there was also something else about the guy that just didn't sit right with him, either. Something besides his interest in Kagome. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Back in the living room, Ayumi watched as Kagome and Inuyasha 'set up camp' with practiced ease, and silently wondered if the two of them hadn't actually spent some real time camping outdoors. At first she'd thought it was odd that Kagome had only brought one simple backpack, for the _two_ of them, no less, but now that they were going through everything she'd brought, it seemed as though Kagome was used to storing tremendous amounts of stuff in that seemingly bottomless bag.

"Can't do ramen, I'm afraid." she muttered to her companion, before handing him a small bag of potato chips.

"Keh, these're fine." he replied before chowing down.

"You guys have gone camping before, haven't you?" Ayumi asked conversationally, to which Inuyasha paused for a moment between mouthfuls of dried potatoes before answering, "S'ppose you could say that."

"This is actually 'roughing it' a little more than I'm used to." Kagome explained, gesturing to their surroundings. "I can't build a fire, there's nothing to eat besides the junk food we packed, and there's no fresh water, meaning we have to conserve what we brought for drinking and there's no place to get washed up."

"I hadn't thought about it that way." Ayumi admitted, "Though I doubt we need to worry about showering for one night, we'll be outta here first thing in the morning."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Still," Ayumi continued, "I doubt the restroom facilities are in working order."

"Ugh." Kagome joked, glancing around at the dust and spider web covered _everything _that was their scenery for the time being. "If the living room is any indication, I'll go 'round back to the bushes, thank you very much."

She and Ayumi giggled while Inuyasha merely rolled his eyes. Women.

...o...o...

"...and then all of the villagers just started rising up into the air."

Everyone gasped.

"They were floating?" Yuka asked.

Kagome shook her head. "Although that's what it looked like to the hanyou, they weren't actually floating. Thin hairs that nobody could see were actually wrapped around each sleeping villager, controlled by an oni of hair." she explained.

"How did the hanyou defeat the evil youkai controlling them without harming the innocent people?" Eri asked next.

When her friends had expressed their interest in telling another round of ghost stories, Kagome had decided to twist a minor truth regarding some select adventures between herself and Inuyasha, making the tales ones regarding 'the hanyou and the miko' instead. She didn't mind; it was still kind of true, in a way. It was just a differentmiko, was all, or the same miko reincarnated, if you wanted to get _really _technical. But either way, she was fine with it. According to the original scrolls, 'the hanyou and the miko' had been together for quite some time before the eventual betrayal, so it stood to reason that they could have shared in some adventures together beforehand. Inuyasha had claimed that these stories came from his family's private scrolls, in keeping with the original pretence that his parents were historians who had studied that particular legend, but even if her friends actually thought they were just making everything up, they were still soaking up the entertainment. Since the sun had set over an hour ago, their only sources of light were the various flashlights that everyone had brought, save for the minimal amounts of moonlight shining in through some of the broken windows, which only amplified the effect of telling spooky stories all the more.

"The hanyou left the village to go and retrieve the miko from where she had been meditating out in the woods." he quickly fabricated in answer to Eri's question. Couldn't exactly mention anything about the well, after all.

"While the hanyou had known that something was obviously controlling the villagers, he couldn't tell what it was, until he retrieved the miko, who it turned out could see the hairs that were wrapped around everybody." Kagome elaborated, she and Inuyasha taking turns with the story of the first real adventure they'd ever shared together.

They continued to tell the tale of Yura of the Hair, only slightly modified, making the demoness after the entire jewel, rather than merely their shards of it. Kagome got a little misty eyed, though thankfully hid it well, when she caught the slightest choke in Inuyasha's voice as he'd told them of how the miko would have surely been burned to a crisp had the hanyou not given her his robe of the fire-rat to wear for protection. Even though he had professed to not liking her very much back then, the truth was, she had been the first companion he'd had in a very long time, and he hadn't wanted anything bad to happen to her. He hadn't wanted to become lonely once more. Inuyasha could detect the scent of Kagome's unshed tears at his words, though even through the heavy stench of dust and decaying wood, he could tell that they were happy tears.

Eri then took that moment to ask him if that was why he was wearing the bright red kimono, because according to the details in his family's scrolls, the hanyou of legend had worn red clothing, and he nodded, muttering something about his outfit being a replica.

_Because if this was __real_ _fire-rat, _Hojo thought bitterly, _Then it'd be able to withstand this…_

He'd been sitting next to Inuyasha during the tale, and had slowly, casually, pulled out his small pocketknife. He'd brought the blade for protection, in case some other people showed up during the night and tried to start any trouble. He had _no_ intention of harming Inuyasha, or anything crazy like that. He just wanted to poke a little hole in his precious designer robes…the Kagome stealer. The guy's baggy sleeve was draped across the floor right next to him, with the way Inuyasha was currently sitting so casually, with his hand palm down on the floor by his thigh, as he leaned backward against his arm ever so slightly. At the sight, Hojo had thought to make the tiniest rip in the fabric of his rival's sleeve. It would be so easy. Inuyasha probably wouldn't even notice it until much later, and would then curse himself regarding how he had managed to ruin such an expensive outfit.

So it stood to reason that Hojo was _not_ expecting the tip of his knife to snap off when he pushed it down into the fabric against the rotted wooden floor. The look Inuyasha immediately sent him afterwards was even more unnerving, as if the man had known what he'd been planning on doing all along, but had remained motionless to let him see for himself how futile his effort would be.

_Stupid little snot_, the hanyou thought, _Attempting to damage father's robe_… Not that the hole would have been permanent, anyway, even _if_ he had been able to make one. Only spiritually or demonically charged weaponry could damage his fire-rat clothing at all, and even then, the garments still mended themselves afterwards whenever such damage occurred. Of course, it wasn't like that puny human would know that, and if he was going to put forth such cowardly and wussy attempts at getting even with him over being with Kagome, then he wouldn't hesitate to fight back in his own little way. He still felt that he owed the boy for that candy corn stunt, after all. The hanyou had been willing to let it go at first, for Kagome's sake, so that they could all 'get along' as she'd asked of him earlier in a quiet whisper, but if that Hoho clown wasn't going to leave well enough alone, then he would simply play his game right back.

Taking a casual, deep breath, Inuyasha smirked to himself at the rapidly growing stench of the man's fear. He was obviously scared and confused over what had just happened with his knife. Feh, stupid human, that's what he gets.

Hojo wasn't just scared, he was on the verge of freaking out. How had that happened? There was no way that outfit was _really _made out of fire-rat fur. Fire-rats didn't even exist! They were a type of youkai, and youkai were just myths, weren't they? Sure, a lot of people still believed they at least _used_ to exist. In some rural shops you could even get medicine made from ground up 'dragon' bones, although in reality it was really just dinosaur bones. A lot of people bought into the fantasy, but it was _still _just a fantasy…wasn't it?

The girls, meanwhile, had remained completely oblivious to the incident between the two boys, as Ayumi asked Kagome to tell them another story. She was just about to oblige them, but just as she opened her mouth to speak, the door that led into the separate kitchen off the living room suddenly slammed shut. Everyone jumped, including Inuyasha.

"What was that?" Ayumi questioned frantically.

"Probably just the wind." Eri tried to reassure her.

"What wind?" Yuka questioned frantically, while Kagome concentrated on detecting anything unusual in the atmosphere. There was a tiny speck of _something _that pulled at the very edge of her awareness, but it didn't quite feel like spiritual activity, and it didn't quite feel like jyaki. Still, it was enough for the miko to rise to her feet, grabbing her bow.

"What's going on?" Ayumi asked Kagome as she watched the girl next swing on her quiver of arrows. "Are you really going to purify the ghosts?"

Before she could answer, Hojo also jumped to his feet, the incident with his knife completely forgotten with his mind suddenly focused on protecting the women. He didn't believe in ghosts, but somebody else was obviously in the house. He didn't know what Kagome was trying to prove with those foolish arrows of hers, but she'd better put them down before she hurt herself. He hadn't planned it, but he would use this opportunity to prove to her who was the better man. He doubted that that cosplaying fool would know how to handle himself in a real situation. His knife must have just had a flaw in the blade, and that glare he'd received afterwards must have just been at his rival's realization of what he'd attempted to do, despite how he'd originally read his expression. That was all.

Kagome, meanwhile, was clueless to Hojo's thoughts on the subject, as she attempted to quiet down her panicky girlfriends. "Let's all just calm down for a minute." she tried to reason with the group, "I'm sure everything is-" She was cut off as all of the bedroom doors upstairs also slammed shut, one right after the other.

Yuka and Eri both screamed and huddled together, while Ayumi seemed too frightened to move or scream.

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation for everything." Hojo stated with false bravado, to which Inuyasha snorted, earning a hard glare of his own.

"Yeah…" he answered casually, glaring right back, "And I plan on sniffing that bastard out."

Nobody but Kagome knew how literal that statement actually was, as he began stalking off towards the kitchen door, hand on the hilt of his sword.

"He doesn't plan on using his _sword_ against the ghosts, does he?" Yuka asked nervously, not believing such a thing would be very effective.

Shaking her head, Kagome answered without thinking, "No, the Tetsusaiga can't cut through spirits."

"Tetsusaiga…?" Eri echoed, the name somehow sounding familiar to her. Wasn't there some other legend regarding some inu-youkai who'd possessed a sword by that name? Shaking her head, she knew she needed to brush up on her history a bit more.

_Damn…there's no scent_. Inuyasha grumbled, investigating in the kitchen until another scream out in the living room caused him to rush right back.

"What happened?"

"Yuka just-" Kagome started, only to be rudely interrupted.

"Nothing you need to worry yourself over." Hojo answered condescendingly, apparently assuming the role of leader. "Why don't you go see if you can find out anything upstairs?" he asked next, in a clear attempt at dismissing him.

"Why don't you just shut up?"

"Inuyasha!"

"What?"

"Now's not the time to fight amongst ourselves!"

"Well tell _him _that! That little shit tried to cut-"

"I don't care." Kagome interrupted that time, frowning as her husband snapped his jaw shut at her words, but remained fuming, glaring daggers at Hojo. What had she missed?

Hojo appeared to be glaring daggers right back at Inuyasha, so something had definitely gone down between the two of them, and if that weren't stressful enough, there was potentially a ghost on the loose. To quote their friend Miroku, this did not bode well.

"There it is again!" Yuka screamed a second time, pointing upstairs to a shadow they could all see moving across the far wall, barely caught in the dim moonlight that shown in through the exposed windows.

"Hey, whoever you are, get out of here!" Hojo suddenly called towards the shadow. "You're scaring the women!"

Kagome just managed to suppress rolling her eyes, for once, but did wonder if Hojo's apparent opinion that there were simply other people in the house was valid.

"Inuyasha…" she addressed, all hostility from their previous mini-squabble completely gone from her voice. "Can you please check out the upstairs?" she asked him nicely.

Since he'd seen the shadow too, he'd already planned on heading up there anyway, but that didn't stop him from approaching her with a soft, caring smile, as he quietly complied with, "All right…" as he slowly took her hand. "Because you asked me to." he finished, quickly kissing her on the cheek before darting upstairs.

She blushed at his out-of-character show of affection, but her flush quickly became one of anger when she caught Hojo's piercing stare, as she realized the entire display had been for his benefit.

_Just you wait until we get home_… she thought, her eyes narrowing as her gaze followed her husband's disappearing figure upstairs. Her anger quickly dissipated, however, her eyes softening as her thoughts finished off with… _Please be all right_.

Hojo was fuming. Who did that guy think he was? He hoped he got lost in the dark, as the idiot hadn't even thought to bring a flashlight with him. The human man was so preoccupied by his own thoughts that even _he_ let out a startled yell…men did not 'scream'…when the piano in the corner started playing.

Ayumi now joined in the huddle, as all three schoolgirls held each other tightly, while Kagome slowly approached the instrument, bow in hand. "Be careful…" Eri beseeched, to which Kagome automatically replied, "Aren't I always?" without giving the statement much actual thought.

She then proceeded to reach behind herself, grabbing and notching an arrow a little more effortlessly than what one would expect from somebody who'd never fired a bow before in their life. The piano was still strumming away, playing some gods awful, horribly out of tune melody, that if Kagome hadn't known any better, she'd swear was a spoof off the theme song for the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Upon closer examination, she discovered that the grand piano was in fact _not _one of those automatic player-pianos, and upon touching the keys herself, all music instantly stopped. She would have fired her arrow, if she'd sensed something to shoot it at, but there was simply nothing there. She'd felt nothing.

Upstairs, meanwhile, Inuyasha's ears had swiveled at the sound of the piano playing, but then a flash of movement out of the corner of his eyes encouraged him to stay on track. It was unnerving that there was still no scent, but – he supposed with a shrug – you couldn't exactly _smell _a ghost, now could you? If that was what this thing really was.

"Show yourself, you bastard." he hissed, drawing Tetsusaiga.

Another flash of movement coming from the other direction caused him to spin around, and yet he still saw nothing. He had no trouble adjusting his eyes to the low lighting, his night vision illuminating everything before him in perfect black and white clarity. Staring at the far wall, he concentrated for a moment, trying to focus on what looked different from his memory of that same wall from just a few moments prior. Then it struck him...that dusty, chipped vase sitting on the side table had two shadows. There was no source of light other than the moon that shown in through the broken window to his right. Which meant…the shadow on the _left _was the real one. Pointing his sword at the other shadow, his eyes widened in alarm as it began oozing down the wall, like spilt ink running down a piece of parchment.

Downstairs, the girls all stared with nervous confusion as Kagome slapped what appeared to be some sort of ofuda on top of the piano. She then appeared dissatisfied with the results when nothing happened.

"What's that supposed to do?" Hojo asked, to which she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping at his blatantly condescending tone. Honestly, what the hell was up Hojo's butt tonight?

Granted, he too had matured over the last three years, as he was now eighteen just like the rest of them, rather than the shy little fifteen-year-old her friends had used to try and set her up with. But seriously, had the guy really changed _that_ much? Then again, he _had_ dumped a bowl of candy corn on top of Inuyasha's head at last year's party. That should have been a clue that the guy wasn't quite as docile as he used to be, right there. Maybe he was just sexually frustrated, Kagome snickered in her mind, knowing how Inuyasha could get if she kept him waiting for too long. She and her hanyou even sometimes joked that that had been a _big _part of why he'd always been such a dick to her back in the beginning. Maybe Hojo just needed to get laid. But if _that _was the case, then he'd better learn to get _her _out of his mind real quick and find himself somebody else, because _she _was unavailable.

"It's a purifying ward." the miko finally answered, after amusing herself enough with her secret thoughts that she could speak to the guy without biting his head off.

"Those things don't really work." Hojo criticized softly, which increased the worried expressions on the three other girls who had previously given a _lot _of faith into Kagome's abilities for the time being.

Coming up with a safe, neutral reply, Kagome answered, "Well, you'd better not tell my grandfather that, he _is_ a Shinto priest, after all. And I'm surprised at you…" she added, deciding to be a little condescending herself since he seemed to have no problem dishing it out, "This coming from a man who pawns off ancient herbal remedies to cure things they invented _Tylenol _for."

Hojo stiffened at that last part, an obvious personal dig. Fine, he didn't have to take that. "I'm going to go see what's taking him so long." he muttered quickly, before grabbing a flashlight and also heading upstairs.

"Do those wards really work, Kagome?" Ayumi asked after Hojo was gone, to which her friend smiled.

"Mine do. Just, like I said, don't tell my grandfather that his are powerless." she joked with a wink.

Something crashed behind them then, and Kagome instantly stood taller, whirling around in a protective stance as she instructed her friends, "Stay behind me."

...

Inuyasha had heard the conversation downstairs, and was somewhat amused, although their voices truly had to remain background noise for the time being as he concentrated on listening for any sounds from his prey. After that shadow had melted, which was the best way he could think to describe the appearance of what he'd just seen, it had completely disappeared, seeping into the floor without a trace. He'd thoroughly sniffed the wall where it had previously been sitting, though, and he _thought _he'd detected the faintest hint of a youkai. That worried him. Ghosts shouldn't smell like youkai, and if it was _not _a ghost they were dealing with, then they had a serious problem.

Kagome had told him before how she'd always had a feeling that there were probably more youkai still around in her time, even though neither of them had ever seemed to sense any. They were probably just well hidden, was all, and probably at least a _little _more on the rare side than they were back in his time, because of the simple increase in the human population, if nothing else. But if this house was possessed by a youkai posing as a human spirit, that could explain, in a very morbid way, what might have happened to those who'd supposedly disappeared after staying the night there. There was definitely _something _going on, that was for sure. Inuyasha was confident that his Kagome could take care of herself, though, which was why he hadn't instantly dashed back downstairs at the sound of that crash. Her words following immediately afterwards had assured him that she had the situation completely under control. He was on the hunt, and couldn't risk losing track of his prey now; he'd finally caught its scent.

Ducking into what the hanyou quickly realized was the master bedroom, Inuyasha gawked at the scenery before him.

_What the hell kind of furniture is this?_

What Inuyasha saw as simply foreign would've actually had a much greater impact on any of the humans in their group. The bedroom set was like something out of a Victorian movie. It stood to reason that reproductions of such furnishings could have been acquired for a house back in the late 1960s, but forgetting for a moment how modern the mansion actually was, standing in that room gave off the impression of being in some ancient European manor from the 1800s. The elaborately detailed canopy bed was just as filthy and grimy as the rest of the house, though the arrangement of cherub angels carved into the wood of the footboard and headboard, as well as what appeared to be the remains of dried blood on one of the four ceiling-high posts barely holding up the tattered remains of the canopy, all went completely unnoticed by our time traveling half-demon as he concentrated on an unusual sound coming from the adjacent bathroom.

Darting through the narrow doorway, sword transformed and at the ready, Inuyasha hesitated when he realized that all he'd heard was the damn sink dripping. Being familiar with faucets thanks to his experience in Kagome's home, he quickly twisted the dial into the off position. It took him a full five seconds to realize that there wasn't supposed to be any running water in the house.

...

Kagome stood, unblinking, as the knocked over lamp on the floor flickered on and off a few times. The angle of the light from the fallen lamp perfectly illuminated, for brief intervals at a time, what appeared to be the small figure of a Japanese boy. He appeared to be one of the children from the family portrait; he was even dressed in the same kimono. Glancing around, Kagome realized that she couldn't detect the presence of a tatari-mokke anywhere, and wondered if it was already too late, if the piper-youkai's eyes had already opened. After all, unlike that little girl she had helped find peace three years back, these ghosts had already been trapped in limbo for over three decades by that point. Kagome wondered vaguely why his spirit hadn't been pulled into Hell yet like Mayu's soul had almost been, but there were plenty of legends of poltergeists haunting a place for years upon years after their death. It probably just depended on the strength of the spirit's rage, and whether or not they even _knew _they were dead. Mayu had been aware of her death, so perhaps that was why her time as a poltergeist had been so limited before she was forced to cross over.

"We're not going to hurt you." Kagome said slowly, lowering her arms so that her arrow was pointed downward.

_Damn, where's Sarah Michelle Gellar when you need her?_ the miko thought while trying to use humor to keep her wits about her. Too bad this was real life, and not some American-made remake of a traditional ghost story.

The boy just continued to stare at them, not moving a muscle. Kagome stared right back, and as a result quickly realizedthat she couldn't detect his shape in the shadows whatsoever, when the light went out. But even if he were actually still standing there, how would a lamp illuminate a ghost, anyway? Technically, there was nothing tangible for the light to shine off of, since a ghost had no physical form. It almost seemed _too_ much like something you'd see in a movie, Kagome realized then, thinking of her earlier thoughts from a more serious perspective. And how the hell was that lamp even working to begin with? She knew for a fact that there was no electricity in the house. The other girls had all briefly humored themselves earlier that evening by trying the various lamps, including _that _one. Something was fishy about this.

Continuing to hold her arrow notched against the bowstring with her right hand, she carefully released the bow with her left to reach behind herself, quickly saying "Flashlight."

She didn't know who it was, but one of her friends pulled through by quickly placing said device in her open palm. Kagome then whirled her arm around, shining the light directly in the 'ghost's' eyes. He simply disappeared, leaving no evidence that he'd ever been there in the first place, and upon approaching the fallen lamp for a closer inspection, she was only mildly surprised to note that the bulb had actually been broken during the fall. She should have known, all other things considered. Quickly pulling out another purifying ofuda from within her robes, Kagome slapped it on the lamp, and that time, all four people remaining downstairs bore witness to mild static electricity-like sparks crackling around her sutra before the piece of paper finally grew quiet.

"What does that mean?"

Turning to greet her friends with a grim face, the miko answered, "It means we're not dealing with ghosts. We're dealing with youkai."

Yuka and Eri both gasped, while Ayumi tried to insist, in a questioning manner, "But youkai don't _really_ exist…?"

The unspoken "Do they?" at the end of her statement was clear enough that Kagome nodded confirmation in response, quietly answering, "They do."

She wasn't about to reveal to her friends the secret of the well, or the truth regarding herself and the Sacred jewel, or even Inuyasha if she could help it, but they already knew that she was from a shrine family, and had already now bore witness her powers as a true miko, so Kagome quickly decided that by that point, explaining that there were still some magical beings living among them wouldn't really be all that disastrous. Especially now that she was convinced that it was the truth, herself. There was no _way _she could really believe that all of the youkai from Inuyasha's time had simply up and disappeared somewhere between then and now, and besides, spiritual activity caused by a ghost would not have had such a strong reaction to her sutra.

_We're definitely dealing with a youkai_.

...

Trying the sink again proved futile, as that time the pipes remained silent, not a drop of water to be had, despite the fact that he could still smell the water that had oh-so-recently dripped down the drain.

Sticking his nose into the air and inhaling deeply, Inuyasha suddenly caught the scent of what smelled like _very _old blood, as he followed it back into the bedroom, finally noticing the browned, dried stains along the wooden frame of the bed. He also discovered what appeared to be the remains of spilled blood on the sheets and mattress itself, although not very much of it remained since the majority of the blood soaked fabric had apparently been eaten away by insects over the years.

_Definitely looks like somebody got killed here_… he thought, at first, until he took another whiff.

"Wait a minute…" he mumbled aloud, leaning closer for a more thorough examination.

Hearing a floorboard creek behind him, he whirled around without thinking, sword at the ready, only to freeze mid-swing at the sight of the petrified human behind him. Tetsusaiga reverted itself back into its dormant state at the lack of a threat, and Hojo's eyes widened even further.

"Hmph." Inuyasha snorted, sheathing his sword. "You should know better than to sneak up on a hanyou, idiot." Served the little bastard right.

Hojo stood frozen in place for a moment longer, his flashlight still in hand, which just happened to illuminate the bloodstains on the bedpost. Finally coming back into some semblance of functionality, the boy managed to mutter, "Is…is that…blood?" while gesturing to the bed.

"Yeah…" Inuyasha answered casually, "But it ain't human, it's pig's blood."

He was just about to walk passed the guy into the hall, but Hojo suddenly found a twinge of bravery, as he held out what remained of his pocket knife, stuttering through, "Wh-what _are _you?"

The blade was far from useless. Only the very tip had snapped away, at a downward angle, which in actuality made the jagged remains in Hojo's hand even sharper. But that didn't phase our hanyou one bit.

Deliberately wiggling his ears, smirking as he saw the man's eyes travel upward, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I…" he answered slowly, quickly snatching the knife from the mortal's hand, "…am Kagome's husband." Hojo's brows furrowed at that particular word, but the stench of panic was instantly back when he witnessed the man before him snap his knife in half, as though it were made out of balsa wood. "You…" Inuyasha continued, relishing in the puny mortal's panic, "…are in my way." he finished, brushing passed him and entering the hall.

Inuyasha grinned momentarily as the acidic stench of urine reached his nose, but shaking his head, he knew he had more important things to worry about. Like meeting back up with Kagome so that they could take care of this youkai bastard once and for all.

...

"Now stay within the circle, and you guys should be fine." Kagome assured her friends, having made a barrier in the center of the living room for Yuka, Eri and Ayumi to stay in, while she took care of their little 'ghost' problem. Just because a straight wall barrier was easier didn't mean she _couldn't_ doa round dome, and she had never felt more grateful to Kaede and Miroku's teachings than she did in that moment.

"What about Hojo and Inuyasha?" Yuka voiced, and Kagome smiled, assuring the girls, "I'm sure they're fine, but I'll go find Hojo and get him within the barrier as well, okay?"

Eri thought it odd that Kagome hadn't seemed worried about protecting her boyfriend as well, but maybe he knew how to hunt youkai? His parents were historians on youkai, after all, so maybe he knew some sort of ancient trick?

"Hojo's fine, he's in the master bedroom." suddenly came Inuyasha's voice from behind her, and Kagome whirled around, frantically gesturing with her hands for Inuyasha to stay where he was.

"I made a barrier to protect the girls." she quickly explained, and Inuyasha froze mid-step. Yeah, it wouldn't be good to accidentally purify himself in front of her friends.

"So, you know, then." he answered, and she nodded.

"Yeah, we're dealing with a youkai."

"Let's go."

"Right."

Once the couple disappeared from sight, Ayumi asked her two friends, "Do you think they do this often?"


	4. Anticlimactic?

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

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><p>.<p>

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Chapter 4 – Anticlimactic?

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It was extremely hard to pick up, as though some sort of masking spell was in place, but Inuyasha finally managed to catch the faint scent of youkai, while Kagome finally felt its aura signature. They both knew what they were hunting; now it was only a matter of _finding _it.

Kagome was sure her barrier would hold up, but she was worried for her other friend who was still wandering the house somewhere. Inuyasha had been reluctant to admit what'd become of Hojo, but upon Kagome's insistence, he eventually confessed to the minor stunt he'd pulled back in the bedroom. Before she could _sit _him, however, he quickly explained what Hojo had attempted to do earlier, in the living room. Her anger instantly shifted to the mortal man, much to Inuyasha's relief, until Kagome insisted that they still needed to find him and get him within the safety of the barrier, no matter what he'd done.

"Yeah yeah yeah…" He was not enthused.

Sniffing, Inuyasha was quick to lead Kagome towards one of the smaller upstairs bedrooms, presumably one of the children's rooms.

"He's in there."

"Hojo…?" Kagome called softly.

"Higurashi?" he questioned back, coming out of the shadows until he spotted the _thing _standing behind her.

"He's…he's…" he tried to get out, pointing at Inuyasha.

Kagome merely shook her head. "He's the _good _guy." she said finally, politely avoiding lowering her eyes to the small damp spot on the front of his pants. Thankfully, it actually wasn't that visible; his pants were black, after all. "Hojo, there's something really going on inside this house, and we're going to put a stop to it. I want you to go downstairs and stay within the barrier I've created for the girls, all right?"

Nodding mutely, he carefully passed through the doorway, staring at Inuyasha the entire time, as though he were some rabid bulldog that could strike at any moment. Once he was in the hall, they both heard the rapid pounding of his footfalls as he virtually ran downstairs.

Inuyasha snorted.

"Coward." he muttered under his breath, though he quickly shut up at the fiery glare Kagome sent his way at the jibe he'd apparently muttered a little louder than intended.

"Let's go, we've got a youkai to kill." she said after a moment, and gulping, he followed her silently. He suddenly felt sorry for the ghost/youkai they were hunting; Kagome was _pissed_.

The miko didn't even flinch as the window she passed by suddenly slammed open beside her. Turning her head slowly to glare fiercely in the window's direction, as if the framework had somehow offended her, she quickly muttered a short prayer before slapping a sutra against the wall. A pained shriek was heard as more sparks flew, and then all was silent again. Not for long, however, as they both suddenly heard the phone downstairs in the kitchen start ringing.

"Oh no…" Kagome whispered, as they both quickly headed back downstairs.

The girls and Hojo meanwhile, were all minding their own business within the safety of Kagome's barrier, when the sudden ringing caused them all to nearly jump right out of their skin. Nobody knew for sure what had happened to Hojo to make him so jumpy as well, but they had merely assumed that he'd seen one of the ghosts. Thankfully, because it was so dark, and the girls were only shining their flashlights around the house at anything they found suspicious, nobody had noticed the evidence of just _how _terrified Hojo had actually become at one point.

As the ringing continued, Eri stared in the direction of the phone, as if it were specifically calling to _her_. She instantly regretted when she'd touched the thing earlier.

"Is somebody going to answer it?" Ayumi asked quietly.

"Hell no." was Yuka's instant response, though Eri had a different idea.

"I think…" she said slowly, "I think somebody should."

"But Kagome said not to leave the barrier!" Yuka called after her, as Eri made her way towards the kitchen. "Oh for crying out loud." she mumbled to herself before leaving the circle as well, mindset on retrieving their stubborn friend.

Hojo and Ayumi were left blinking at each other, before all the windows down in the living room started flying open, causing the two teens to hold onto each other. Hojo blinked in surprise over how perfect Ayumi seemed to fit within his arms. Kagome was apparently off limits for good, he had finally learned _that _much at least. But at least Ayumi seemed to appreciate his presence. Maybe…

Yuka, meanwhile, had nearly reached her friend within the kitchen, before the door suddenly slammed shut in her face. She tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Around that time was when Kagome and Inuyasha appeared behind her, scaring her out of her mind until she realized who they were.

"Eri's in there!" she screamed in panic.

"Stand back." Inuyasha instructed, punching the door so hard he knocked it clean out of its frame, as the broken slab of wood clattered to the floor.

"Eri no!" Kagome shouted, just as the girl was about to reach for the phone.

Acting quickly, Kagome drew back and fired the arrow she'd kept at the ready all that time, striking the phone and knocking it from the wall. Both Eri and Yuka stared at her, shocked by the spiritual light they'd seen illuminate her arrow as it flew, but then Eri quickly rushed into her arms, realizing that she'd been in some sort of a trance for a moment there.

"Back in the barrier, you two." Inuyasha spoke softly then, in a tone of voice Kagome'd rarely heard him use in the past, and _never _around her friends before. It was instantly clear to her in that moment that – the incident with Hojo aside – Inuyasha did care what happened to her friends.

Kagome stayed in the kitchen while Inuyasha escorted the two girls back towards the barrier, stopping just short of touching the purifying field himself, as he gently encouraged both girls to pass through with his hands placed firmly against the middle of their backs.

"Go on, off you go." he instructed, to which they obeyed without hesitation.

"He's a real hanyou." Hojo suddenly spoke up, realizing that that meant he couldn't enter the barrier, and that he was safe from _him _for the time being, as well as the 'ghosts'.

Inuyasha stiffened. Now what?

"I don't really care." Yuka answered dismissively, in that sort of weary tone of voice one uses when so much has happened so quickly that the mind sort of ceases to function when it comes to separating the logical from the illogical.

"If he's with Kagome, then that means he's a good guy." Eri defended, turning to look at the red clad man who blinked at her in disbelief. "Just like the hanyou and miko from that legend."

"Yeah well…" Inuyasha started slowly, unsure of what to say, and if the girls had truly believed Hojo's words or not. "History ain't gonna repeat itself. Me and Kagome, we're in it for the long haul." he mumbled quietly, in reference to what he knew the girlsknew of the tragic ending between himself and Kikyou, according to legend. At least nobody suspected that he was actually _that _hanyou. That'd be a little harder to explain.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome suddenly screamed from inside the kitchen, his ears automatically turning at the sound, though he didn't care who saw it anymore, as he quickly turned and darted away before anyone had a chance to say anything else.

What Kagome's friends did or didn't know about them was instantly the _last _thing on his mind at the sight of Kagome being suspended in the air, held against her will, as she appeared to be struggling against some invisible foe.

"Let her go you bastard!" he cried, drawing Tetsusaiga, which transformed, proving that there _was _something there.

He couldn't release a direct attack though, not without hitting Kagome. Then suddenly it hit him, Dragon Scale Tetsusaiga. Kagome wasn't a youkai, so therefore, she wouldn't have any youketsu to confuse with the enemy's. He wouldn't risk accidentally hurting Kagome with that attack. Holding his sword out in front of him, and concentrating on the attack he wished to use, Kagome watched in wonder, as she always did, as a reptilian-like coating suddenly adorned the giant fang.

Inuyasha could see it, the single swirl of youketsu. Taking aim, he dove into the air, bringing down his blade as hard as he could. But that was a difficult attack to master, easily avoidable to those with reasonable agility. Just as he had managed to dodge the attack himself when Kanna's mirror monster had thought to use it on him, the invisible _thing _that had been holding Kagome instantly dropped her, quickly dodging out of the way of Inuyasha's attack before his strike hit true. Crashing his blade down into the tile flooring, he did quite a number on the kitchen, but that was it. At least Kagome had been released, though, which was really all that mattered to him in that moment.

"Are you okay?" he asked her quietly, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"Behind you!" she gasped, and he barely had time to react when out of the corner of his eyes, he saw what looked like a giant youkai claw aiming right for them.

Grabbing his wife, he just managed to roll them both out of the way right before it struck, and as the giant youkai claw moved to follow him, he gently as possible shoved Kagome away, barely raising and holding the Tetsusaiga over himself before the next strike hit, the Tetsusaiga's barrier thankfully deflecting the attack. Kagome, meanwhile, had enough time to gather herself to her feet, quickly notching and shooting another arrow. Her aim was true, but as her arrow approached the image of that giant youkai claw, said claw simply disappeared, and not in the fashion they had come to associate with things being purified. Her arrow passed through the disappearing image as if nothing were there, to instead lodge itself in the far wall. But however real or not that youkai claw had appeared prior to vanishing couldn't argue against the very real evidence of giant gouge marks in the kitchen floor where it had struck the first time, when Inuyasha had rolled them both out of the way.

"What's going on here?" He was getting fed up with being toyed with.

"I have no idea, but I intend to find out." was Kagome's reply, as she slapped another one of Miroku's purifying ofuda on the wall. "I'm gonna drive this fucker out if it's the last thing I do." she vowed, and Inuyasha had to do a double-take at her use of profanity.

Rushing back into the living room, Kagome promptly ignored the looks she was receiving from all four teenagers currently left stranded within her barrier, as she dug through her backpack for additional ofuda, ever so thankful that she had actually thought ahead and brought the things. While she had never _used _to believe that this house was haunted, she would have been a fool to remain so closed-minded after her adventures in the Feudal era.

Thoroughly armed, she ran back upstairs, her miko senses telling her that that's where the foreign youkai aura was coming from. Inuyasha was hot on her heels, appearing unfazed as his mate slapped a sutra against the wall every few feet or so.

"Things might get a little uncomfortable for you." she warned him.

"I can take it." he assured her, "Let's get this bastard."

Whatever mask the youkai had previously been using to hide its scent didn't quite successfully mask the stench of its fear. It feared both he and Kagome. Good, it _should _fear them. Bursting back into the master bedroom, as that was where Inuyasha's nose was telling him the stench was coming from, Kagome flung out several sutra just like how Miroku had taught her, each one swiftly attaching to the wall or furnishings. Inuyasha hissed in mild discomfort, but the strength of purification in the atmosphere wasn't as potent as what Kagome had used in the barrier she'd made to protect them during the new moon. The sutra were designed to drive the creature out, not kill it. Stronger ofuda would have been too much of a risk to Inuyasha.

A fluctuation in the concealing magic the youkai was using led them both to the closet, where said hanyou could smell that there was a youkai hiding within.

"All right." Kagome smiled triumphantly, "We got 'em."

She drew back her bow as he held up his sword with his right hand, swiftly reaching forward and flinging the door open with his left.

Whatever they had been expecting, whether they'd thought some sort of hideous human-eating monster would suddenly fly out at them in a desperate attack, or some eerie ghost-like being would be standing there more calmly, as if believing it had still won, they most certainly had _not _been expecting _this_…

"Please…" he sobbed, huddled in the corner, hands over his head, and utterly, utterly terrified. "Please don't kill me! I'm sorry!" the boy wailed.

"A kitsune?" Inuyasha grumbled in disbelief, lowering his sword at the same time Kagome lowered her bow.

_He reminds me of Shippou_... she thought, grinning a little despite herself.

While the kitsune was clearly not Shippou, and appeared slightly older than their fox friend from the past, giving off the impression of being a young teenager, it was clear that he was just as harmless as the cub they had almost come to care for as their own son.

It didn't take Inuyasha long to get over his initial shock, and after having so much built-up adrenaline go to waste, he was _pissed_.

Reaching forward and grabbing the kitsune by his tail, he yanked the brat up to eye level and snapped, "Just what the fuck do you think you've been doing, you little shit?"

"Inuyasha! Don't hurt him!"

He gawked at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"Don't hurt _him? _What about us? He tried to skewer us with that damnable claw, and had you strung up mid air!"

"I'm sure he wasn't _really _going to kill us." she tried to reason.

"How the fuck do _you _know?"

"I wasn't going to hurt you!" the kitsune cried, "Please! I wasn't! I've never hurt anybody!"

"Oh yeah?" he asked, not believing him, "Then what about the people from Kagome's school who've claimed that some kids disappeared after staying here? What about the _family _who lived here in the first place?"

"All lies!" he cried. "There never was a human family killed in this house, I set the whole thing up!"

"Somebody had to have lived here at some point in time." Kagome spoke up again, trying to wrap her brain around everything he was saying. "Somebody had to have bought this land, and had the house built in the first place."

"It was…" he sniffled, "It was my parents who bought this house." he confessed.

For an instant, Kagome had a horrible vision of something terrible befalling his parents, just like little Shippou, but he quickly elaborated with, "They bought it for me, and helped me get everything started."

She shook her head in confusion.

"So…let me get this straight. Back in the '60s, your parents, disguised as humans, bought this house, and helped you set up the illusion of a family living here for a few years, who then got _murdered_, just so the house could then become abandoned, leaving you here to do what…just stay here and scare the bajeebus out of anyone who dared staying the night in a haunted house?"

Sniffling, he nodded.

"Feh." Inuyasha snorted, "Why the hell would they do that?"

"I…" he confessed, "…I have fifty years…to scare as many people as I can…then see where I rank."

_Where he ranks? Is this like that Kitsune Inn we ended up staying at that one night? _

"I think I understand…" Kagome started softly, managing to free the boy from Inuyasha's grasp as she then set the young man down on his feet. "You helped spread the rumors yourself, didn't you? Disguising yourself as various school kids, you talked about how cool this haunted house really was." He nodded. "And…" she continued, "Scaring a hanyou and a miko, I bet you get a lot of extra points for that, don't you? For the Kitsune Youjutsu exam?"

It was now the kitsune's turn to gawk at her.

"How do you know about that?"

"I…" she started hesitantly, but Inuyasha beat her to it.

"I knew a kitsune once who pulled some shit like this." he explained, figuring it would be easier for the brat to buy that he'd just told Kagome things about the youkai world she hadn't really seen for herself, since humans of that time period obviously were't supposed to know. "Feh, little brat." he griped quietly as an afterthought, remembering the all the stunts that Shippou had pulled that night.

"Say, you don't happen to know a kitsune by the name of Shippou, do you?" Kagome asked then, to which the child shook his head in the negative.

For a second there, her heart dropped to her stomach, wondering if something bad had happened to her baby over the span of time. Seeing the sadness in her eyes, and realizing that the miko had sincerely hoped he would somehow know her friend's kitsune friend, he quickly explained, "There are just so many kitsune all over, we're far too numerous for us to all know each other." Turning to address the inu-hanyou himself, he stated, "I'm sure the kitsune you knew is still out there somewhere."

Inuyasha nodded at his reassurance, figuring it made sense that the youkai most likely to survive to Kagome's time would be youkai who could naturally disguise themselves, like kitsune. Apparently, the kitsune before them seemed to realize this, as well, as it suddenly dawned on him how odd it was that he was speaking to an adolescent hanyou, accompanied by a miko, no less. Inuyasha's youki was _strong_, revealing he was well over a century old. "How have _you _managed to stay hidden from the humans for so long?" he asked then, unable to help himself. "Even being half human I know you gotta be way older than you look, and even if you weren't, hanyou are still pretty rare even today since you can't hide stuff like your ears."

Said ears flattened to his head, as he racked his brain for some kind of an answer. For once, it was actually Kagome who thought the most quickly, as she was immediately the one to answer with, "He's been a close family friend to my shrine family for a long time, staying on the same shrine grounds for generations, having befriended a miko from long ago, earning her protection, and thus the protection of my family to this day." It was always easier to lie with the truth, after all.

The fox-youkai took one sniff in her direction, and then commented, "Seems to me like you two are _more _than just friends."

She blushed terribly, while Inuyasha snapped back with, "And how is that any of _your _business?"

"I'm sorry…" he apologized sincerely, shuffling his feet. "You're um…you're not gonna tell the others, are you? If they learn the truth about me, then I'll lose all the points I got for scaring them. I already lost the ones I got for scaring you two, since you found me."

"Why should we care about-"

"Of course we won't tell them." Kagome interrupted, glaring right back when Inuyasha shot her a look of his own.

...

At the sound of creaking floorboards, everyone quickly shined their flashlights in the direction of the stairs, releasing a collective sigh of relief at the sight of Inuyasha and Kagome rejoining them.

"Did you get it?" Eri asked.

"What was it?" Yuka asked next.

Kagome wasn't usually a very good liar, especially on the spot like that, but she would feel guilty for causing the little guy to lose all of his hard earned points for the evening. She needed to think of something believable, and fast. Inuyasha, meanwhile, just rolled his eyes. Leave it to Kagome to show sympathy to the bastard that'd had them all chasing their tails for half the night. But even he could suppose that at least _something _positive had come out of the whole experience. He'd learned that youkai, or at least some _select _youkai, did indeed still exist in Kagome's time. That knowledge suddenly made _his _future seem much brighter, and hopefully, if all went according to plan once the jewel was finally completed, that little lie Kagome had managed to fabricate regarding himself being a long term friend of her shrine family over the centuries would actually come true. Who knew? Maybe their five hundred year old counter parts were just sitting back and watching everything unfold with a bucket of popcorn. Mmmm…another wonder-food of Kagome's time. Where was he? Ah, yeah…he supposed he owed the little bugger _something _for bestowing him with hope for the future and what not.

"It was an energy-youkai, the kind that feed off the life-force of humans. Probably what really killed the family those decades back. It faked all that 'haunted' crap because a frightened human tastes better. Bastard didn't like the taste of Kagome's arrows too much, though."

He finished his little speech with a smug look of superiority, crossing his arms with a very _'You got a problem with that?' _expression on his face. Kagome glanced his way for a brief moment, grateful that he had kept the kitsune's secret, but also surprised that he had given _her _all the credit for 'killing' the invading youkai. But like he'd already proven to her time and time again throughout the last year of their relationship, he was in fact _not _the simple-minded individual that he often pretended to be in the company of others. He most certainly had not forgotten that they were standing on rather shaky ground with regard to what her friends now knew about him, and the _last _thing he needed to admit in their presence was the fact that his sword possessed magical youki-based attacks. It was bad enough that Hobo had already seen its transformation. Since they also already knew that Kagome possessed the purifying abilities of an ancient miko, it stood to reason that they'd believe him if he claimed that she had managed to kill the youkai with her arrows, without the statement triggering any tough questions.

As it would turn out, nobody seemed to have any questions at all, merely nodding in acceptance of his explanation. They were all thoroughly exhausted, and all thoroughly Halloweened-out.

"I want to go home." Ayumi uttered quietly, and Hojo wrapped an arm around her shoulder before replying with, "Then we'll go home."

It was then Kagome's turn to be observant of the situation around her, as she caught the unmistakable glance of apprehension that Hojo briefly sent in Inuyasha's direction. Yeah, the guy probably didn't want to be stuck in the same car as a hanyou for an hour and a half. Not that she could blame him. Not that she shared his view regarding Inuyasha _at_ _all_…but she didn't really want to be stuck in a car with _him _for an hour and a half. Let Hojo drive the others home.

"Actually, you guys go on ahead, but I need to perform a few purifying rituals. They're boring and time consuming, but necessary. We'll be all right."

Inuyasha snickered silently to himself. She was getting better at telling lies all the time.

"You sure?" Eri asked, worried about stranding them there.

"Yup." she assured her friend, her traditional fake smile firmly in place. "There was that small restaurant a couple of miles down the road, remember? We'll just walk there in the morning and call a taxi."

"If you're sure." That time it was Yuka who wanted to make sure that Kagome would be all right before just leaving her and Inuyasha there by themselves.

"Positive. Oh, and guys…" the miko continued, "Let's keep everything that happened here tonight a secret, okay? Nobody else should know what really went on here, or what was discovered." she hinted suggestively with double meaning. "So as far as the others at school are concerned, a few things went bump in the night, and when we left the place, it was still haunted, okay?"

"Don't worry Kagome." Eri answered.

"You can count on us." Yuka added.

"I'm just glad you two are okay." Ayumi chimed in.

"Whatever, shall we go?" was Hojo's rather tactless response, as he addressed the three girls.

Kagome wasn't really worried about him, though. Who was he going to tell? Who would _believe _him?

"Goodnight guys, drive safe." she bid farewell, as they all gathered their belongings and headed out to Hojo's car.

"You don't really want to stay the whole night here, do you?" Inuyasha asked her once they were alone.

"With that impressionable youth lurking upstairs?" she asked in return with an amused tone of voice. "Not on your life." she supplied, adding, "I figured you probably have some extra energy to burn, so I thought we could go for a run. There's still a chance to salvage the rest of our anniversary."

If he caught the possible double-meaning behind her last statement he didn't show it, as with a fairly grumpy attitude he gestured towards where her backpack rested, and said, "Good, grab your stuff already. Let's get the hell out of here."

They ran for about forty minutes before Kagome's legs started cramping, and he reluctantly let her down for a small break. They'd obviously needed to take a slightly more scenic route back into town, but they would still be home long before sunrise. Away from any city lights as they currently were, in a small patch of what remained of the wild forests of long ago, Kagome glanced upward through the spaces in the trees, sighing contently.

"It's such a beautiful night." she uttered softly, noting how the stars almost seemed as bright as they did back in the Feudal era. Almost.

Inuyasha snorted, waiting impatiently for her to pick up her bag and arrows from where she'd sat them down so that they could start running again. "If you say so." he mumbled absentmindedly.

"I'm sorry." she apologized gently, coming up to stand beside him. "I know you got all riled up, only to discover it was just a stupid kid."

Her choice of language was for his benefit, and he did offer a slight half-smile at her effort, but shaking his head in frustration, he explained, "It was all just so…so…anticlimactic."

Kagome blinked. _His vocabulary is improving everyday_.

"I understand." she whispered softly, before leaning herself against him in a sort of half-hug, running one hand soothingly up and down his back.

Her caress quickly took on a much less innocent feel, however, as she lowered her hand to gently cup his ass.

Inuyasha chuckled.

"You've been hanging around Miroku for too long." he scolded teasingly, though he made no effort to remove her hand from his backside.

"If you've still got all that adrenaline built up from the hunt, like I do, then I can think of another way to burn it all off, that might make the night a little more…climactic." she purred suggestively.

At any other time, Inuyasha would've already been half naked by the time she finished her sentence, but for once in his life, he simply wasn't in the mood. "Let's just get you home." he mumbled, apologizing with his eyes at the disappointed look she sent him.

"Who are you and what have you done with my Inuyasha?" she pouted.

He chuckled softly once more at her face, before sobering. "I'm sorry, Kagome." he answered, stating "It's just…after everything that's happened tonight…"

"I guess Hojo was right, after all." she interrupted.

"What?"

"Oh nothing."

"What did that little pansy ass tell you?"

"It isn't important."

"Kagome-"

"Let's just get home, all right? It's fine…really…"

He didn't budge. "What did that bastard say?"

"Inuyasha," she assured him, "I love you, okay? You don't have anything to worry about. I would _never _leave you for someone like-"

She didn't even get to finish when the wind was suddenly knocked out of her, as she rather unexpectedly found herself pinned up against the nearest tree.

"He tried to take you from me?" he asked low, and suddenly Kagome felt a twinge of fear for poor Hojo. _Maybe this wasn't the best idea in the world, after all_.

"N-no." she answered shakily. Not because she was scared, although her stomach was definitely aflutter. Didn't he realize the effect he had on her, being that close? Their skin so close to touching that she could feel his aura merging with hers, his breath heating the column of her throat in shallow pants, as he attempted to calm himself. She was sure that nose of his could pick up how strongly she was aroused.

"I…I was kidding…" she managed to confess, "Hojo never said-" She was silenced by a bruising kiss that left her gasping for air.

"You're _mine, _bitch. Don't you _ever _forget that." he stated with conviction, his eyes momentarily flashing red.

But what seemed like it should have been terrifying, and probably would have been to anybody else, only proved to turn her on even further. She knew Inuyasha would never hurt her, and she had accepted his rather possessive personality long ago. She didn't mind it in the least when he claimed that she belonged to him. She never wanted anyone else, for as long as she lived. Although, it was a two-way street…

"Just as _you _belong to _me_." she stated with authority, quickly yanking his head backwards with a sharp tug on his hair, as she leaned herself forward and sucked hard on the pulse point on his throat, nipping him with her teeth. As a human, she knew Inuyasha could be kind, and sweet, and gentle, when the moment called for it, but as a youkai, she knew he liked it rough.

He growled, the kind of growl that nightmares were made from. Her aura danced with his, tugging, pulling, encouraging him to come out and play. Inuyasha could feel it. Just like when Tetsusaiga had called forth the power of his youkai blood, Kagome's miko aura was drawing out his beast…but his mind was still his own. Yanking his hair free from Kagome's grasp, he slammed her backward against the tree once more, except she knew he was being careful of her human body when she felt the cushion of his hand behind her head, so that it wouldn't strike the bark. Her body may be a little more fragile than his, but she liked it rough, too.

"Bitch." he hissed, and she couldn't be sure if he meant it as a replacement for 'woman' as he sometimes did, having explained that the term was natural for inu-youkai…or if he meant it as the insult he knew it was for humans, in response to the stunt she'd just pulled in order to seduce him.

"Your bitch." she answered behind a smirk, figuring her response worked either way.

Snarling, the now fully transformed Inuyasha crashed his mouth down on top of hers, heedless of his extra long fangs that managed to bite into her lips a few times. The taste of blood only proved to fuel his beast even further, as Kagome suddenly found his hands upon her body, quickly working loose the ties to her miko robes. Desperate to keep the pace, she quickly worked loose the ties on his robes, as well, taking a moment between tackling the double-knots on his hakama to briefly grip his erection teasingly through the cloth. Her eyes bulged at the realization that apparently his fangs and claws weren't the _only _things that got even longer when he turned full demon.

He whimpered at the touch, an actual whimper. His canine instinct was as close to the surface during a transformation as his human emotions were during the new moon. Not that he cared one bit. He might not have been in the mood a few minutes ago, but Kagome had rapidly changed all that. She knew just how to get to him, to trigger his possessive nature. He of course had realized what she'd attempted to confess, that the whole thing had been a ruse in order to manipulate him, but to be perfectly honest, he didn't much care at the moment.

Kagome had no idea how he'd managed it so quickly, and without tearing a single thing, but she suddenly found herself standing quite naked before an equally naked Inuyasha. Both sets of their clothing left completely intact, in a pile by their feet. He might be more beast than man at the moment, but he still knew enough to comprehend the fact that they would need to get dressed again at some point.

He glanced at her with a _very _suggestive smirk, observing the tree behind her as he took note of the height of the lowest branch, before suddenly grabbing her tightly around the waist, and effortlessly lifting her up onto his shoulders at the same time that he backed her against the tree. That maneuver created the end result of Kagome resting her back against the tree over six feet in the air, as he held her up, her legs wrapped instinctively around his neck and back, as he devoured her.

He didn't give her any time to adjust, skipping all of that slow teasing that he usually did in preparation for this act. Kagome desperately tried to free herself on instinct as the sensations were so strong, so quickly, but she couldn't move. He held her firmly in place, and she was forced to endure the results of her torture. If you play with fire, then eventually, you're going to get burned. Her body eventually caught up with the onslaught it was receiving as she begged for more, her fists tangling into his hair. Remaining extremely conscientious of his fangs, he complied with her request.

As she screamed his name to the heavens, he smiled against her, drinking in everything she gave him. Then, without giving her the time needed to fully drift back down from the high she'd been thrust upon, he quickly lowered her body along the tree, her shoulders scraping against the rough bark in the process, which she completely ignored upon suddenly being forcefully shoved down onto his waiting manhood. He filled her more fully that he'd ever filled her before, and she gasped in pained pleasure at the sensation.

Holding her against the tree, he thrust his hips with abandon, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist in a desperate attempt to hold on for the ride, which was all that she _could _do in that position. Kagome was sure her back would be bothering her in the morning, but that was the least of her concerns for the time being, with the incredible force of the sensations rushing through her.

Thrusting vigorously, Inuyasha momentarily forgot everything about the world around them, concentrating solely on the woman he held in his grasp. It was a good thing they weren't currently in the Feudal era, or some beast lurking in the night could have surely snuck up on them in his distraction. Feeling his pending release slowly gathering force within himself, he increased the tempo of his rhythm, bringing Kagome to the very limit of what her human body could safely endure. Seemingly without warning, it hit him all at once, an inhuman howl ripping from his throat.

He remained perfectly still in that position for several minutes, simply trying to regain his normal breathing. His slowly deflating excitement pulsed happily a few last times, as Kagome slumped wearily against him. Finally, his heart stopped pounding so frantically in his chest, as his youkai blood receded, and he reverted back into his hanyou form. His memory of everything that'd occurred remained unhindered, just like the times he had transformed while holding Tetsusaiga. Carefully moving himself away, he withdrew himself from Kagome while simultaneously lowering her to her feet. Her legs were shaky, and Inuyasha had to rush forward to catch her before she fell. The scent of her blood burned his nose, though thankfully, her wounds were superficial. He was afraid she would be angry with him, though, for causing her any injuries at all. Her back was pretty scratched up. His ears lowered in shame at the realization. He knew she had enjoyed herself, and that mating at all had originally been her idea, but he shouldn't have allowed himself to lose control like that.

He was just about to open his mouth to apologize when a delicate hand caressing his ear pulled him from his thoughts, to gaze downward into warm, loving eyes. He knew he was forgiven, or rather, that she had never been angry with him in the first place, when she smiled that special, tender, heartwarming smile of hers, and murmured "Happy Anniversary."

_~ Fin ~_

**oooOooo**_  
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This story has since been expanded into a trilogy. The third and final installment, completed in 2008, is entitled 'Hallow Be Thy Name'.


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